Gray's Elegy
by DoctorGirlfriend
Summary: Kurama has decided to help a newly arrived demon adjust to the human world. Problem is she's not a very normal demon, she's never even seen a human before. Will his friends be more of a help or a hinderance, and what's he going to tell his mother?
1. Chapter 1: Desert Flower

Gray's Elegy

* * *

(A/N): this is my first posting here on you may call it 'mary sue' or 'au' but really that's your business not mine. I'm not planning any non-cannon pairings right now, just want to explore this little storyline. Also it starts out with my oc unable to speak Japanese, so I've distinguished between it and her demon language by putting the latter in _italics, _and leaving the former alone.

* * *

_"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,  
The dark, unfathom'd caves of ocean bare:  
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,  
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."_

A scream rent the desert air as the girl thrashed in pain and tried to pull away. They released the clamp on her ear and stepped back, satisfied smirks lingering on their faces. She let out a howl of rage as she felt her ear, the blood still pouring down from the large metal tag that was hanging like an oversized earring. She lunged at them and the pair separated, allowing her to fall in the dust between them.

_"An excellent specimen_," hissed the taller slaver, whose forked tongue snaked out as he spoke.

"_Indeed, she is will attract a good price, and with those youki-devouring cuffs on, she can't harm us_," the owl demon hooted in contentment.

The girl pushed herself up and her eyes gleamed black in the light, but neither slaver noticed. The snake demon grabbed her by the hair and tossed her back to the wall of the tent before walking out. The owl demon hovered, patting his large stomach in a pleased manner as he contemplated their latest catch. A set of keys jingled at his waist and her eyes flicked to them.

"_Dream on_," he cooed, tapping the keys. "_You could never get these from me_."

In a flash she had leapt across the room and tackled him down, pressing the chain linking her manacles across his throat as he thrashed. She snatched the keys and jumped up. Ducking under the back wall of the tent, she took off running across the rocky desert. She had no idea where she was running to, or what she was going to do, but she fled anyway. Whatever she was heading towards, even death, was better than what she had been facing. She caught the glimmer of a mirage, or a heat wave near a large rock and headed towards it, only realizing once she was closer that it wasn't an illusion. There was definitely something swirling and glimmering there.

* * *

Kurama couldn't help but suspect that he was overreacting as he faked a slight cold and quickly made his way out of school, but the sudden blast of mid-range youki was more than uncommon. It didn't take long to get to the area the strange aura had come from, but there was no sign of anything unusual, no scent of blood, no screaming humans running from a monster, not even a hint of youki left. But then he took another sniff and caught something very unusual. "A demon," he muttered, immediately becoming more wary. He knew there was something powerful among the trees, and that he was downwind of it. He moved forward carefully, pushing aside branches gently and looking around quickly. In the clearing ahead his demon was standing, her black hair flowing over her shoulders to the rough tan tunic she was wearing. 

She glanced back and saw him, fear clearly written on her face. A pair of manacles fell from her hand as she dashed away. Kurama hesitated a second, he was still shocked, this must be his quarry, but she looked absolutely terrified. But he didn't hesitate long, and in a few seconds he was catching up with her. The demon ahead of him seemed to be having some trouble navigating through the trees. Once they made it into another clearing he had the trees she was heading towards close together, blocking her path. She spun immediately and Kurama felt the flood of her power as she charged up whatever attack it was she meant to use. He threw himself to the side and ducked down, not knowing what to expect.

"_I already have an owner, and he would be very displeased that anyone was messing with me_!" she screamed in her demonic dialect. "_So just go away and I won't hurt you."_

Kurama looked up from the tree he was hiding behind to call back: "_Nobody owns anyone else._"

There was silence for a moment, and then he felt the pressure of her gathering energy begin to let up. "_Say that again_," she said quietly. He got up from behind the tree and walked around to face her. Her hands were still raised above her head, and she still looked ready to attack, but her energy had disappeared again.

"_I said: Nobody owns anybody else. Nobody owns you_." She cocked her head to the side.

"_You do not wish to harm me then. I do not recognize this place, or the clan I smell. And these plants are very strange, so large. You smell of two clans and I don't understand it,_" her arms dropped to her sides as she stepped towards him. "_What are your intentions?_" Her black eyes seemed to bore into him as she stared.

"_I came to see what your intentions are and if you needed help. You see, you're in the human world_."

"_What are humans_?"

There was a miniature explosion to Kurama's right as Hiei arrived on the scene. He drew his sword before the dust around him had settled and fixed his attention on the female demon. She threw her hands up again and began summoning her energy. Kurama rushed between them and faced his friend. "Hiei don't! Put the sword down, she won't hurt us!"

"Damnit fox! She's going to kill you if you don't move! Let me finish her now."

"No! Hiei, she's lost and confused. Just let me explain what's going on and you'll—" he was cut off as an elbow nudged him in the back. "Huh?" He turned to see the demoness inches from his face.

"_Do you know the little one or is he an enemy? Will he attack again? I could remove him if he is a threat._"

_"It's okay, he thought you were attacking me."_

She made a dismissive noise and leaned sideways. "_Can you tell me what humans are now? Are they the strange new clan I smell? The small one is not of the same clans as you, he does not smell of this place._"

Hiei's face was slightly incredulous as he listened to the demon. "You can't seriously believe that she doesn't know what humans are, can you? Kurama don't be stupid."

Kurama turned back around to face his friend. "I don't think she intended to come here. It seems that she was trying to escape from a place she was being held captive and—" here he was cut off again by the demoness as she pulled at his shirt and tried to look up his sleeve.

"_You also wear the strange fabrics? How very odd, it is not cold enough that one must be covered. I understand that some clans wear skins to keep from becoming cold, but there are other reasons. This,_" she plucked at the knee length tunic,"_symbolizes my capture, the pattern represents the particular slavers. Were your, clothes, given to you by your…clans, since you are not slaves?_"

Both males sweatdropped and glanced at each other. They would have rather fought a demon intent on killing them then respond to this odd speech. "_Here in Japan, in the human world, that's where we are now,_" Kurama said as he tried to detach the girl's hands from his arms, "_People wear clothes all the time. They don't go anywhere without them._"

The demoness made a disgusted face and looked around. "_Then I will leave as soon as possible. This place is too strange for me, the frightening plants, the wet air, the clothes, it is all quite horrible. But first I must divest myself of the signs of my capture._"

She made a move to take off the tunic and both boys yelled "NO!"

"_Idiot! You can't walk around naked, even if you are trying to leave! You'll draw attention to yourself_." Hiei turned his attention to Kurama. "What are we going to do with her? I don't suppose we can kill her when she's not fighting us."

"Of course we can't kill her Hiei. I suggest we discus this matter further in private. My mother will not be home for several hours so my house can serve for now."

"Meet you there," Hiei said before disappearing into the trees. Kurama was left to convince the demoness to follow him home, but it was less difficult than he expected because she had so many questions to ask him about the human world and was happy to follow as long as he kept talking. Getting her into the house though, proved troublesome. She did not want to enter the structure and kept asking him how he could be sure that it would not fall and crush them at any moment. Promises of food and more answers finally persuaded her inside.

"_What's your name by the way?"_ Kurama asked as he shut the door with a relieved sigh.

_"Hana." _

_"It's nice to meet you Hana, my name is Kurama, and it seems that Hiei is already in the kitchen."_

_"The small male? He is very angry. What is a kitchen? Is it where your food is?"_

_"Uh, yes, it is where we keep and prepare food."_

"_Good, I have not been fed today. Do you have bush grasses or the new leaves of acacia_?"

"_Well, we have tofu… I'm sure I can find something you'll like,_" he said as he steered her into the kitchen where Hiei was smirking. She declined to sit in the chairs, but instead squatted on the floor while staring around at the cabinets in amazement. "_Are you a vegetarian, Hana_?" Startled from her staring she cocked her head to the side.

_"What is that, a veg… vegi- uh…"_

_"Vegetarian means you don't eat meat."_

She gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. _"How could you think that I could eat another living creature! I am not a predator, I do not hunt."_

_"Are you the hunted then?"_ Hiei asked.

_"Sometimes,"_ she waved a hand dismissively. _"But not often, the fast survive, and I am one of the fastest. But now I need food. You have said you do not have bush grasses, what do you eat then?"_

Kurama held up some leeks and carrots and shrugged. _"How do you like your food cooked?"_

_"Cooked!"_ She jumped up and snatched the vegetables away. _"How could you consider putting these to fire! You will destroy all that is good about your food."_ She sniffed the leeks cautiously. _"I see you are one of the burrowing kind, a warthog then?"_

_"No actually, a fox demon."_

_"Oh,"_ she squatted back down on the floor and began picking at the leeks. _"Not my predator, but still dangerous to the young."_

The boys glanced at each other as the girl went back to gnawing on her leeks.

_"Miss Hana, how did you come to be in that park?"_ Kurama asked.

_"Park? The place with the strange trees where you found me? I do not precisely know that. I was running when I saw a mirage that was not a mirage by a bolder. I touched it then found myself here. Is that the correct answer?"_

_"It was what I was asking, yes."_

_"What clan do you come from?" _Hiei asked sharply. _"What is your home like?"_

Her head jerked around and she looked at him carefully, staying perfectly still. _"You are both predators, I will not tell you my clan,"_ she said as she looked between the pair of them. _"But I come from wide grasslands, on one side there is the land of trees, on the other the land of sand and rock. Strange creatures come from both sides, but the slavers come out of the sand. Growing up from it in the night,"_ she gestured as she shifted her squatting form around. _"They have the shapes of normal creatures, but because they are made of sand they have no souls."_

_"That's a ridiculous children's story to explain cruelty,"_ Hiei sneered. _"At first you looked old enough to know better."_

She jerked to her feet and reached down the front of her tunic while both boys watched her carefully. She ripped out several strings of beads and shook them at Hiei. He stared back at her, his arms crossed, making no motion to acknowledge this strange display. _"Do not call me young! I have reached breeding age, a new strand for each year,"_ she shook a fistful of the ropes at him and he quirked his eyebrow up at her. _"How many offspring have you sired?"_

_"What? That has nothing to do with you believing ridiculous stories!"_

She snickered and sank to her haunches to resume eating. _"He has sired nothing,"_ she sneered. She looked Hiei over critically as she munched on the carrot and he glared right back. _"Perhaps he is still too young, though it is always possible he is damaged."_

_"Hana,"_ Kurama said quickly, putting out a hand to stop Hiei from attacking her. _"Not everyone begins producing children as soon as they are able. Do you have offspring?"_

_"No, no one was fast enough to catch me. I am the one endangered by pregnancy so I must ensure the child is worth it, the sire must be faster than me. My brother however has four offspring and my mother's belly grows fuller each week."_

"_Since you're so fast how did you get captured by slavers?"_

She cast a nasty glare in Hiei's direction. _"I can outrun anything that moves on its feet, but not that which flies,"_ she mimed a blowgun having no word for it then showed them the red puncture on her neck. _"Luckily I think I was the only one captured, and my clan will have moved far from the desert to avoid more attacks."_

_"So you would not be able to find them if we were able to send you back?"_

_"I should think not. The grasses are vast and many clans roam there, it takes months to cross, years to find someone who is lost."_

"I've never heard of such a place," Hiei muttered, leaning back against the counter. "Sure there are grasslands scattered around, but nothing that big, bordered by a desert and a forest where they haven't heard of humans."

_"What Are humans?"_ the demoness asked again. She stretched up from her crouching position and climbed nimbly onto the counter to look at the contents of the cabinets.

_"Hana please get down!"_ Hiei snorted as Kurama jumped forward and the girl began pulling cans and boxes down. _"Don't climb on the counters,"_ Kurama ordered, lifting her down by the waist and setting her on the floor. _"If you want something you should ask first."_

_"I want to know what humans are."_

_"Humans, well right now the three of us look very much like humans, but unlike us demons they have something called spirit energy. They tend to be weaker than demons as well as more emotionally unstable."_ She nodded solemnly and popped open a box of cereal.

_"This smells strange,"_ she said as she began shoveling the food into her mouth.

* * *

"What are we going to do with her?" Hiei asked, switching back to Japanese, even though the girl was not paying them any attention at the moment. 

"I really have no idea," Kurama replied as Hana began investigating the contents of the refrigerator.

"We could always throw her back through the nearest portal to the demon world."

"Hiei! That would be cruel and unwarranted behavior."

"It would also rid us of an inconvenient little problem."

Kurama couldn't say that he wasn't momentarily tempted by the idea, but it definitely was not something he could seriously consider. "Hiei, that's not an option."

"We could always hand her over to Spirit World. They'd dump her in demon world for us." He saw his friend's determined disapproval and frowned. His eyes flicked to the girl's back as she ate something else green and examined the stove. "Kurama, I will not take responsibility for some stupid deer that happened to cross our paths. If you're going to keep her don't expect my help."

"If necessary I will attempt to help Hana on my own," Kurama responded in a tone cold enough to match Hiei's. The lights suddenly went out.

_"Ohhhh, what magic is this? Stars inside, controlled by these strange,"_ the lights came on again, then went off, _"…things."_ On. Off. On, off, on, speeding up until there was a definite strobe effect going on.

"_They're called_ lights," Kurama said as he stepped to the light switch and removed the girl's hand. _"They allow us to see when it is dark without using fire. Most buildings have them, controlled by these_ light switches." He pointed at the switch and she nodded, obviously itching to try it again.

"Just wait until she sees the TV," Hiei smirked as he exited through the window.


	2. Chapter 2: Clothes Make the Woman?

Gray's Elegy

* * *

what's with disclaimers? some people use them, some don't. this Is so isn't that enough of a declaration that we don't own a lot of what we write about?

* * *

_Let not ambition mock their useful toil,  
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;  
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile  
The short and simple annals of the poor._

_"He left,"_ Hana remarked without much surprise. Her eyes were fixed on the next object to explore and she didn't care much about the other living beings present.

Kurama sighed and looked at her as she began pushing buttons on the microwave. He was wondering what on earth he was going to do with her when she grabbed the nearest object, a saucepan, and thrust it into the appliance with every intention of seeing what would happen. "_No Hana, you can't put that in the_ microwave." He felt like he was talking to a child, a very disruptive and curious child. She gave him a wide-eyed innocent look, pushing her bottom lip into a trembling pout, and reached behind her to push the 'start' button.

He caught her before she could press the right one, but he was starting to sweat. 'A disobedient child,' he amended his previous thought as he pushed her towards the center of the room. "_Do not put metal into the_ microwave_, you will cause it to break. Also do not run it without anything in it, it will break_," he directed. _"Do not use the appliances without asking, and without someone here to direct you. And do not stick anything into the _electrical outlets He pulled her back just as she was reaching out a hand to investigate the strange shape on the wall and she let out an indignant noise.

Perhaps he should have followed Hiei's advice; maybe it was not too late. He was distracted from these thoughts when he realized that the indignant noise had turned into a low whine that was steadily getting louder. He let go of her quickly and she began rubbing at her arms while keeping her back to him. 'Such unusual behavior.' His thumb rubbed against his fingers, then he repeated the motion, feeling the slickness there that shouldn't have been. He looked down at the rust discoloration of his fingers and took a long sniff of the air. He hadn't thought twice about the scent of blood coming from her, the air of the demon world saturated everything, giving it at least the flavor of that liquid. He hadn't bothered to think that she was actually bleeding.

_"Hana, would you like me to tend to your injuries?" _

_"Why would you bother?"_ she asked, her posture had become withdrawn, her shoulders hunched and her arms pulled tight against her body. Her knees were also bent slightly and she stood between him and the door, her weight shifted into a position to allow sudden flight. _"Why do you want to see where I am hurt? So you can target me there later!"_

He was shocked by her change in tone, the defensiveness and the accusation. Hadn't he been trying to help her so far? He took a deep breath and a step back, holding up his hands and smiling at her. This was a prey species, she was not used to fighting; she was used to running. The old and infirm fell behind and were eaten, the young and fit survived. _"I want to help you get better," _he said slowly._ "Since you're in the human world you have to fit in, you cannot walk around bleeding."_

This ended up being the right thing to say, that or she was horribly trusting, for she pushed her hair behind her ears and held out her arms for examination. The skin was raw and ragged around her wrists where the manacles had been, while the rest of her arms were covered with minor scrapes and bruises. However, her ear looked serious. She had been tagged, tagged like humans tagged their feed animals. It was obviously fresh, the wound was still weeping and her ear was covered in tacky blood. He took her by the hand and led her upstairs to the bathroom.

She immediately climbed into the tub and began poking at the knobs. _"What does this do?"_ she asked, pointing and bouncing up and down slightly as he looked for bandages.

_"It makes cold water come out of the spigot, where your other hand is resting."_

_"Ohhh, and what does this do?"_

_"It makes hot water come out."_

_"So this is your watering hole? It is very small, you cannot socialize well in here."_

He nearly dropped the disinfectant he was holding. _"No, no that's _the bath_. We drink water from the _sink he indicated the one in front of him. _"There is one in the _kitchen_ as well. We socialize in the _living room.

"_What's _the bath _for?"_

_"Humans fill it with water then get in to clean themselves. They also use _soap," he held it out of her reach, slightly afraid she might try and eat the bar. _"Now if you would like I can clean those cuts." _

She climbed out of the tub and sat on the edge while he dabbed at her wounds. The demoness was quite docile once she was sitting still and silent. Kurama noticed that she didn't flinch until he tried to touch her ear, then she insistently batted him away. She pushed him back with her foot and he saw that she lacked shoes and her legs were almost as battered as her arms. He reached for another roll of bandages and let out a long breath, wondering how he was going to get a look at her ear.

* * *

_"I feel like I'm dying,"_ Hana complained as he tied off another wrap around her leg. She took a heaving breath and flapped her arms up and down. _"What have you done to me!"_

_"I just bandaged your injuries, it's normal procedure. Why don't you let me see what I can do about that ear?"_ She clasped her hands over it and shook her head furiously, her dusty hair whipping around. "Alright," he said, sinking back in his crouch. "What to do now?" 'A bath would probably be best, but I suspect she could drown herself. Some outfit better suited to human world then, Shiori's clothes might fit her.' He stood and held out his hand, like he would have done to a child. And when she took it he led her to his mother and step-father's room like he would have led a lost child.

Hana registered his treatment but kept it to herself, too caught up in her strange new world to bother with her guide. If he wanted to consider her a youngling it might even turn out to her benefit. She hated the bandages and wraps on her arms and legs. They were slowly tightening, restricting her movement and suffocating her. She forced her mind away from this dismal train of thought and looked at the large object taking up a good portion of the room. The boy released her hand and slid open more of these 'doors' but she was slowly approaching the strange object. It smelled of people she had yet to see and was covered in fabric. She had no idea what it could be for.

"Hana, Hana-chan." Her head shot around to look at the boy as he stood by the other set of doors, holding something. "_I think you may fit my mother's clothes, though you appear to be slightly taller than her._" She pursed her lips and walked forward. One of the objects resembled her tunic, but much shorter, the other, she was not so sure about. She looked over the male critically, he had on clothes of a similar shape and she noted how they were worn before taking the ones he was offering her.

_"I have never dressed myself before,"_ she said casually. _"But I do not suppose you would help me. Clothed clans fear the bodies of others. Where do you wish me to go?"_

_"Yes, it would be considered inappropriate,"_ he smiled nervously. _"You really should have _underwear_ too." _He glanced at the wardrobe then back at the waiting girl.

_"What does it do?"_

_"You wear it underneath the top layer of clothes."_ He stopped there, unsure how to continue explaining, and not wanting to raid his mother's underwear drawer.

_"Like this?"_ She jerked up the tunic so suddenly he looked at her in surprise before quickly averting his eyes.

_"Yes, like that,"_ he said, wondering why the slavers had bothered to dress the girl. He realized that she intended to change then and there and made sure his back was turned to her as the tunic went sailing by his head.

_"I don't like this," _the girl's voice came from behind him._ "The bottom thing doesn't fit well at all."_

_"Have you got it on the right way?"_ He turned and looked back at her to see that the pants were a few inches too short, and a few too wide as she held them up by the waistband. She let go and they fell straight to the floor. He turned away quickly then realized that she was not in the least embarrassed by what was going on. He had been in 'human' mode so long that he was having trouble accepting her nonchalance. _"I'll get you a pair that might fit better."_

Hana watched as the red-haired boy left the room. She listened for a few seconds to make sure he was walking away before she turned her attention back to the large object. She took a deep breath and jumped on it. To her distress it began sinking under her weight, but then stopped. She moved cautiously, the unstable surface shifting under her weight.

_"It's called a _bed_, humans sleep in them."_

_"Oh,"_ Hana looked up to see the boy had returned. _"How many of you fit up here, five, six?" _

"No, only my mother and step-father," he laughed. _"I have my own room."_

_"You sleep alone? What did you do wrong?"_ she asked as she took the pants he was holding and tried them on.

_"Nothing,"_ he said as she zipped up the jeans. This pair was tight enough to stay up, but too long for her. He crouched down and began rolling up the pants' legs. _"Humans tend to sleep separately. _My step-brother_ also has his own room. I'm assuming you sleep in a big group?"_

_"Yes, with everyone taking turns to keep watch. But since you have built yourselves these _buildings_, you do not need to keep watch?"_

"Correct," he said as he straightened and looked over her. The shirt was too large, the girl surprisingly thin. 'Not underfed,' he decided, 'more like a greyhound or a thoroughbred, built for speed.' She had no curves to speak of, and if her hair was cut short and she wore a hat she might have been able to pass for a pretty boy. There was a noise from downstairs, the front door opened then slammed shut. Kurama grabbed her by the hand and ran out into the hallway. Hana let out a frightened squeak as he tugged her down the hall and into a different room.

"I'm home, anyone else here?" called a young male voice from downstairs.

"Good afternoon Shuichi," Kurama called out his door as he pushed the demoness towards the closet. She resisted his push and tried to look out the door too. "How was school?"

"Boring," the boy replied, his voice getting louder as his footsteps came up the stairs. "Something wrong?" he asked pausing in the doorway to his room.

"No, everything's fine," Kurama replied and drew back into his room, shutting the door behind him. The girl was still pushing to get past him and look into the hallway.

_"Who was that? Why won't you let me see him?"_

_"That was my _step-brother_. I think it's best that I don't inform my family right now,"_ he drawled. _"It would be difficult to explain to them, because I live with humans. They don't know about demons."_

_"Explain,"_ she demanded, sitting on the floor of his room. He sighed and sat on his bed, ready to retell the story of his death and subsequent possession of a human body once again. Not only did she asked detailed questions into the nature of the process affecting his soul she made him repeat everything in Japanese so she could hear what it sounded like. The process took well over an hour and at the end he was tired and irritated. _"So if I were to somehow—"_

_"Hana, please excuse me, but I really must start on my _homework," he said, rubbing his eyes as he stood and made his way to his desk. He pulled several books out of the bag he had dropped there earlier and placed them neatly to one side. He sat down at the desk and started on the first assignment, hoping a normal activity would give him time to think through his situation a bit more. He was just reaching for the second assignment when he looked around. The girl had been oddly quiet this whole time and he had a sinking feeling about it.

She had taken every single book off the bottom shelf of his book shelf and spread them out across the floor.

"Hana," he said and she looked up from the book she was holding upside down and flipping backwards through. _"Could you please put the books back on the shelf once you've looked at them?"_ She nodded solemnly and turned the book she was holding while cocking her head to the side. Kurama went back to his homework. The assignments hardly took him anytime, it would have been boring if half his mind had not been occupied with trying to find someway in which the demoness could actually become a productive member of society. 'Or she could always just stalk around the park during the day and steal food,' he thought, his mind drifting to another demon he knew.

"Up. Up! See?" He turned at the strange sounds to see the girl pointing at the bookshelf which she had restocked. He blinked as he saw that the books were all in the order he had arranged them in, in spite of the fact that she had taken every last one out.

"You're very clever," he said, not as a compliment, but as a realization. She smiled at him and fidgeted with her ear. _"Let me see your ear."_ He stood up and took a step towards her but she cringed back, covering the hanging tag and shaking her head. _"I just want to help."_ He crouched down next to her as his door opened and his mother appeared in the doorway.

"Shuichi, I'm home early. How was your…" she trailed off as her son stood, a guilty flush coming to his face as he tried to step in front of the person on the floor. "Oh, you've brought a girl home."


	3. Chapter 3: Meet the Humans

Gray's Elegy

3 Meet the Humans

* * *

"Mother, I can explain," he said quickly. Shiori looked at him, her surprise growing.

"It's not like you have to explain having a friend over Shuichi."

He was bumped aside suddenly by the girl on the floor, who turned to the human woman with pleading eyes and clasped hands. "Very sorry! Not him, not him, my fault! He help. Bad men," she tugged at her shirt, Shiori's shirt, and searched for words to make her meaning clearer. "Attacked."

"Why, is that my old shirt she's wearing?"

"Yes Mother, she was mugged," he said, repressing the sigh of relief threatening to escape. He hadn't been exactly sure _how_ he was going to explain to his mother why there was a strange girl in his room, one who was obviously not his classmate.

"Mugged? How terrible! And you helped her Shuichi? My brave boy," she smiled fondly while the girl nodded enthusiastically. "But what happened to her clothes?"

"They were shredded, not fit to wear. I had to throw them out. I hope you don't mind, but I thought it would be alright if I let her borrow one of your old shirts."

"Oh of course! The poor dear, she must stay for dinner! Where is she from?" She took a step closer and added in an undertone, "Her Japanese is not very good is it?"

"I'm afraid not. I'm having trouble communicating with her," he had an idea to buy himself more time. "She speaks German, and my English is rather good, the two languages share some similarities so we've been able to communicate, but I haven't been able to determine where she's staying yet. I encountered her on my walk home from school."

"Oh, she can't tell you? Well we cannot let her wander alone and hope she finds her way. Tomorrow before school you can take her back to where you found her and see if she can find her way from there. She does look very young though, I'm surprised she's not in school."

"It is possible she goes to the international school."

"Yes of course, dear. Well I'm going to start on dinner, please explain, if you can, that she's invited to stay."

"I will Mother." With a last fond smile the woman left the room, leaving the door only a crack open. They both waited silently for her footsteps to retreat down the stairs. Once she was out of hearing Kurama quietly closed the door and let out a breath while running a hand through his hair. Sadly I think part of her ready acceptance was the fact that Hana is the first girl I have brought into this house.

_"Was she a human? Is everything all right?" _

_"Yes, you did very well. I'm surprised how fast you picked up those words."_ She looked more reserved instantly, shifting so that she wasn't directly facing him and avoiding his gaze. "_My mother would like you to stay for dinner. I'm afraid you'll have to put up with cooked vegetables, but you might find you like them,_" he said, dropping her linguistic ability for the moment. _"She also said you could stay for the night, but after that we'll have to find someplace for you to go."_

Hana looked at him carefully, her dark eyes unreadable. He shifted slightly under her gaze but returned the stare, otherwise not allowing it to ruffle him. _"How do humans eat?"_ she asked at last.

_"I guess I need to explain about _chopsticks_. Here take these _pencils,_ and hold them so,"_ he demonstrated using a pencil and pen that had been lying on his desk. She regarded him dubiously as she took the objects and tried to balance them in her hands. Twenty minutes later she was still having trouble holding them correctly as she tried to pick up bits of paper he crumpled and dropped onto his desk. He taught her a few polite greetings and tried to explain about the placement of dishes on the table as she worked as mastering the mysterious chopsticks.

"Shuichi! And Shuichi!" The boy and girl started at the cry and looked towards the door. Shiori's normally quiet voice was able to carry surprisingly far in the house. "Dinner is ready!"

_"Come on,"_ Kurama offered the girl his hand and she let him pull her to her feet. _"Are you ready?"_

_"Yes, I want very much to see these humans you live with who cannot tell that you are a demon."_

_"Hana, you're making me nervous."_

_"Don't worry, I will not stick my eating spears into the fire hole,"_ she smiled brightly as she followed him down the stairs and into their dinning room. Hatanaka and the younger Shuichi were already seated and Shiori was placing the last plate on the table as they entered the room. Hana stopped in the doorway and preformed a little bow, which surprisingly was not too far off. The gesture seemed to charm Kurama's mother who smiled brightly and waved them to their seats.

"So your mother tells me you interrupted a mugging today," his step-father said with a smile as he adjusted his glasses. "That was rather risky, wasn't it Shuichi?"

"Not really," Kurama replied as he lowered himself into his seat. "They ran when they saw me coming. Hana-chan, this is my step-father," he said to the girl.

She smiled politely and said "Hello," rolling the word a bit strangely. She smiled at the younger Shuichi as well and the boy stared back at her in surprise.

"You didn't tell me you had someone over," his tone was slightly accusing as he glanced at the fox demon.

"Well he probably didn't want you pestering him with questions," the man of the house laughed in an amiable tone as he reached over to pat his son. "And how was your day my boy?"

"Boring, nothing interesting happened to me."

"Well that's probably for the best," Shiori said with a smile. "Too much excitement can be bad for you." They had all started eating, chopsticks clicking and pleasant dinner conversation buzzing around. Shiori had drawn her son in with questions about his day at school, his homework and clubs, preventing him from keeping his attention fixed on the demon sitting next to him.

"Chi-chan, Chi-chan," he looked down as he felt a tug on his sleeve. 'Is she really calling me _Chi-chan_?' he thought irritably. 'Of all the nicknames…' "_I'm having some trouble,_" she said, holding up her hand in which the chopsticks were awkwardly positioned.

_"You're holding them wrong again,"_ he said with a small smile, reaching over and fixing the girl's grip. "Try again."

"Almost," she huffed as the rice slipped from her grip. "Yes, look!" She held up a carrot triumphantly before sticking it in her mouth. He smiled at her, feeling some pride in the little thing's quick wits. _"The food is not terribly ill affected by burning, the liquid covering it makes up for it. I might actually enjoy it, but I keep having to pick around bits of flesh."_

"That doesn't sound like English," Hatanka said, his chopsticks paused half-way to his mouth.

"That's because it's German dear," Shiori chided gently.

"Oh, okay then," he replied, reaching for another dish. "Quite impressive how they've worked out a way of talking."

_"Why Chi-chan?"_ Kurama asked quietly as soon as the others were all occupied in conversation. The girl looked up at him, her chopsticks hanging from her mouth as she reached for a cup. Her large doe eyes watering slightly.

_"The boy has the same name and you said I was not to use your true name in front of them. Is it offensive?" _

_"No, it's fine,"_ he replied, still not liking the name one bit. Thankfully the meal did not become an ordeal. Hana kept quiet most of the time, her wide eyes staring around intently and despite her slightly vacant expression Kurama suspected she was taking in every detail. The others did not have him put many questions to her since they believed the pair had an incomplete understanding of one another. 'Which,' Kurama reflected as he translated some little comment of his mother's, 'is true in its own way. Though we both speak the language fluently we put it to different uses and I have to sift for her meaning.'

* * *

After dinner Hana followed him into the kitchen, carrying her plate and looking like a lost puppy. She got underfoot as they tried to clean up, but no matter what he said she would not just get out of the way. His mother put up with her with cheerful good will, remarking "what a sweet girl, doing her best to help." Kurama hardly thought she was trying to help as he nearly walked into her for the fifth time. She handed him the extra rice with a broad smile and neatly stepped out of the way just as Shiori bustled by. He couldn't help glaring slightly. "I help!" she exclaimed.

As soon as they had finished clearing the table and cleaning up Kurama grabbed his houseguest's arm and pulled her back upstairs, perhaps with a bit more force than was necessary. Once they were back in his room she began laughing, rising from a quiet chuckle to a rolling giggle. _"I'm beginning to think I made a mistake in trying to help you."_

_"Oh no! I was just playing!"_ She fought until she could get her laughter under control. _"I'm very grateful. I would have been lost otherwise." _But she was still laughing at him.

_"Let me see your ear,"_ he demanded, advancing on her. The laughter died immediately and she backed away. He took another step and she darted towards the door, almost slipping under his hands as he reached out for her. Almost, but not quite, and she grunted as he took a firm hold of her and turned her around so that he could see the affected ear. _"That tag needs to come out or it will get infected,"_ he said, still too aggravated by her playful behavior to feel compassion for the fear in her eyes.

_"Leave a wound to heal, do not make it worse." _

_"This is not the wild Hana."_ He dragged her over to the desk and turned on the brighter lamp there, pointing it to give him better light. It was looking even worse than it had been that afternoon and he pushed her into the desk chair. She had no notion of fighting him, but she was still looking for a means of escape as he rummaged through his desk drawers pulling out a roll of bandages and a pair of pliers. He also pulled over one of the plants on his desk and examined its leaves closely.

_"Fox, what do you intend to do?"_

_"I intend to cut through the metal right beneath the tag in the front and draw out the bolt from behind. It will hurt but you must sit still Hana." _Leaving her no time to reply he plucked on of the leaves from the plant and transformed it into a small blade while taking hold of the tag in his other hand. She closed her eyes and her hands tightened on her pants until her knuckles were white. She sat biting her lip her face screwed up until she heard a soft chuckle and felt something soft pressing against her ear. _"That wasn't so terrible was it?"_ he asked, the amusement plain in his voice.

_"Fox, I think I hate you,"_ she said, opening her eyes to see his innocent smile as he continued to clean the blood and grime from her ear. The metal tag was lying on the desk and she glared at it with as much venom as she could gather in her small frame. He put down the now bloody swabs he'd been using and took up the bandages. And before his mother could knock on the door to ask what they were doing up there he had her ear bandaged and all the evidence swept into the trashcan.

"Oh, you're reading her a story, how sweet," Shiori said upon looking in. Her son and the girl were sitting on the floor, their backs against his bed with a large book held open between them, the boy's calm voice slowly speaking that strange little language the girl knew. "I just wanted to tell you the spare futon is in the hall closet and you can just set it up in here. I don't suppose Hana-chan would find the TV very interesting," Shiori mused, hovering in the doorway while the pair watched her. She trusted her son, and yet, she couldn't help being a worrying mother, she would rather have had them where she could watch them.

"I think I've determined where she's staying Mother. It's near Yusuke," Kurama said to avoid the coming invitation that was not a request to come downstairs. His mother's face brightened and she looked relieved.

"Oh wonderful, the poor girl must have been so upset to be lost. I'm glad you worked things out, just remember not to stay up too late dear."

"Of course Mom." She smiled again before leaving, leaving the door cracked. Kurama sighed, but didn't feel like getting up to go and close it.

_"I am not in heat, why does she keep doing that?"_

_"Humans are different,"_ he said. _"They don't go into heat, or you could say they are perpetually in mild heat."_ The girl giggled and blushed slightly.

_"Poor girls, that must make if very hard for them to think."_

"Indeed," he replied, thinking of what awaited him the next day at school. She prodded him in the side and he went back to reading her his Chemistry book.

"I don't understand these ions and electrons. _Why do they change clans?"_

_"Well it has to do with attraction."_

_

* * *

_

The demoness slept on the floor, she refused the bed, was appalled by the very idea of sleeping on it. She prodded the futon suspiciously, took the large t-shirt that was offered as a nightshirt and curled up in the corner with a blanket and pillow, her back to the wall.

The alarm went off at seven and the demoness shot to her feet ready for flight. The fox demon however, turned over lazily and with a swat ended the buzzing. He sat up suddenly as he realized there was a very alert, very tense demon standing in the middle of his room. As his eyes fell on Hana he relaxed and shook his head, the poor thing was completely on edge.

_"What was that?"_ she asked sharply, still tense and ready to flee.

"The alarm clock, _it ensures I get up on time and besides lost sleep is harmless_." She let out a breath and glared at him. Apparently not a morning person. He forced himself to his feet and walked into the hallway. Like always the two adults were already gone to work and Shuichi was still fighting a loosing battle against his own alarm clock in his room. He let out a pleased sigh and turned back to the girl who was fidgeting unhappily. "I think there is time for a morning bath," he said pleasantly. "You need one."

_"I need to relieve myself,"_ she muttered. "_What do humans do?_"

He blinked, he hadn't even thought of that, hadn't even noticed that she hadn't gone. 'Not like that is the first thing you think when you pick up a wounded demon in the park. "And when was the last time you went to the bathroom?"' He took her hand and led her to the toilet. She stared at him as he pushed her in, then at it, then back at him.

_"What do I do?"_ She was fidgeting even more now as she stared at him.

"You," he paused to rub his forehead. _"You sit on it, the _toilet_. Then you push the lever to flush it, it will make a loud noise but that's normal. Then you wash your hands."_ He turned the knob on the sink quickly to show her how it worked. She nodded dubiously and eyed the toilet with distrust as he backed out of the room and pulled the door closed. He walked down the hall to the bathroom as the younger Shuichi finally woke up enough to turn of his alarm. He drew the bath, checked the time, still plenty left, then went to find the demoness.

She was sitting on the floor of his room, her knees tucked under her chin as she rubbed her legs. "I do not like the toilet," she stated. He smiled and helped her to her feet.

_"Now Hana, I want you to take a bath, make sure to take off the bandages before you get in. I will make some breakfast and find you something else to wear. When you are done wrap yourself in a_ towel," he held one out to show her exactly what he meant. _"Do you think you can handle that?"_

"Yes_. I am dirty,"_ she ran a hand through her matted hair. _"It is because they threw me around so much and dragged me through the dust. But these humans clean themselves very frequently, do they not? I am not sure that I will like it."_

_"Yes they do bathe frequently."_ He herded her into the bathroom and handed her the towel. _"Remember, the soap is for washing, don't eat it and don't drink the bath water."_ She closed the door in his face, with a slightly indignant look even though the day before she had been the one referring to the bathtub as a watering hole.

He got dressed and gathered his school books before heading downstairs. In the kitchen he found three bento boxes and a note from his mother explaining that she had made one for Hana since they couldn't be sure the child was being fed enough. He prepared breakfast making sure not to use any animal products and found it a slightly entertaining challenge. Just as he was setting out the plates and wondering if he should check on the girl there came a knock at the front door. He took his time answering it and the knocking became louder and more impatient, giving him a good idea of who it was before he opened the door.

"Ah, Yusuke and Kuwabara, how nice of you to drop by," he said with a slight gleam in his eye. He knew they were there for some reason; they rarely stopped by at 7:30 in the morning on a school day for fun.

"Hiei told us about the demon," Yusuke said.

"Yeah, and we want to see her," Kuwabara said quickly. "I mean, uh, help you out man."

"But mostly gawk," Yusuke laughed. "A demon that didn't know what humans are? You've got to be kidding me! And Hiei said it was a girl, but he wouldn't tell us if she was cute or not."

"Strange as it might seem I was actually planning on visiting you after school today Yusuke, to discuss the aforementioned demon." He stepped back, indicating that they could come in when he felt a prickle at the back of his neck and glanced back. She was standing there, in the doorway to the room, perfectly still, perhaps not even breathing. A stillness so perfect that you could look right past her, never noticing her in the periphery of your vision. She was watching the humans carefully, no emotion betrayed by her large dark eyes, and they had yet to notice her. _"It's alright Hana. These are my friends and they won't hurt you."_

Both boys looked at him like he was crazy, but then she moved forward and they were both suddenly aware of her. Kurama was also suddenly aware that she was there in just a towel. _"Am I holding it up properly?" _she asked as she turned her attention back to him. _"Do you want to wrap me back up in those horrible bandages so that I suffocate and cannot move? I hate them very much. Do I have to wear clothes still? If I change back into my natural form I would not need them."_

_"Yes I'm afraid you have to wear clothes again and I will have to bandage the larger cuts that have not healed yet. Please go back upstairs while I talk to my friends."_ He caught her displeased and suspicious expression and added, _"I'm afraid you are distracting them. Remember what I said about humans?"_ At this she burst out laughing, her eyes lighting upon Yusuke and Kuwabara with pure amusement.

"Poor creatures," she said as she left the room.

"Kurama, if you find any more girls lost in the park, share, why don't yeh?" Yusuke laughed. "Not that I'd go for something that young. If you find something with more curves," he illustrated curves with his hands in the air.

"Urameshi, stop being a pervert, Keiko would kill you!" Kuwabara said.

"You two can make yourselves at home, I have to rewrap some of her bandages. But please don't break anything," he said quickly as he saw the roughhousing coming on.

"We promise we'll be good!" Yusuke said as his red-haired friend left the room.


	4. Chapter 4: The Lions Would Get Fat

4 The Lions Would Get Fat

* * *

I heart Engelbird, just thought everybody should know

* * *

_The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,  
And all the beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,  
Await alike th' inevitable hour;  
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. _

He hurried up the stairs as he heard his brother gathering up his school things in his room. Kurama could only hope the boy was still tired enough that he wouldn't take undue notice of the two boys waiting in the living room. Hana meanwhile had reentered his room and as he stepped in after her she turned sharply. "_I'm afraid I'm in a hurry to get back downstairs,_" he said as he picked up the roll of bandages still sitting on his desk. _"I don't trust them alone down there for more than five minutes."_

She made no comment but sat down on the bed and held out her arms. He had wrapped bandages quickly before, but probably never as fast as he did in those few minutes where he sat straining his hearing to keep track of the three humans moving around the house. He finished the special patch for her ear and let out a sigh, there had been no screams, no sounds of breaking furniture or shattering glassware. He stood and handed the girl a fresh set of clothes. _"My mother left these out, they don't fit her anymore, but they might fit you. After you get dressed you can come downstairs and have breakfast while I introduce Yusuke and Kuwabara."_ She frowned at the clothes, but nodded anyway and he hurried from the room.

"Jeeze Ku-Shuichi, could you take any longer?" Yusuke grumbled at the redhead reappeared. "Hey, is anyone else home?" he added in a whisper as he glanced around quickly.

"My step-brother is still getting ready for school," Kurama responded. "He will be down any second."

"Oh. Well, about your, _lady friend_, what are you planning on doing?"

"He could keep her, couldn't he?" Kuwabara said.

"She's not like a kitten dumbass."

"I'm afraid my mother and step-father would find it highly suspect. Which is why I wanted to talk to you two."

There was the thunder of feet pounding down the stairs and the younger Shuichi breezed through the room to the kitchen. A few clunks were heard as cabinet doors were thrown open and some rustling of boxes. The boy reappeared an instant later, cereal box in hand as he headed for the front door. He paused only long enough to slip into his shoes as he called, "I'm meeting some people before school, see ya later!" And he was gone.

_"Quite an energetic youngling,_" Hana said from the doorway, causing them all to jump slightly. _"Where is the food?" _Kurama pointed towards the kitchen and she skipped towards it while the boys watched her.

"She's pretty cute, not as cute as Yukina of course. Where'd you get the clothes though?" Kuwabara asked, watching the swishing skirt disappear through the doorway.

"They were my mother's," Kurama answered as he followed the girl into the kitchen. "Yusuke I wanted to know if Hana could stay at your house. I reasoned that since you—"

"No, I understand why you'd ask me," Yusuke said, waving his hands in the air. "It's just me and my drunk mother, and she's not there half the time. But at least she knows about demons. She could sleep in the living room, or maybe Ma's room since the old drunk normally passes out in front of the TV. But aren't you worried about me behaving?" he asked with a devilish grin.

"I'm sure Hana would put you in your place," Kurama replied with an enigmatic smile before he turned to the girl. "_Hana, I'm sorry to say that you can't live here with me. But Yusuke has said that you are welcome to stay with him. He lives with his mother, who knows about demons and is frequently absent._" Catching the look she was giving him he paused and tried to smile. _"It is completely up to you where you go; I am merely suggesting that this would be most convenient for you. I am not trying to get rid of you or give you to him."_

_"Would I still see you?"_

_"Yes of course, anytime you want. And I was hoping to arrange things so that you could attend school with me." _

She turned to Yusuke suddenly and bowed. "Thank you. I be good, I no walk around naked or sleep in your bed. Kurama tell me these things bad."

Yusuke's eyes widened before he glared at his friend. "He lied! It was all lies!"

"Yusuke hush."

"Why'd you go and tell her stuff like that? Why did you ruin her poor demon mind?"

"You know, I bet Shizuru's old clothes would fit her. I'll ask her after school if she's got anything laying around she doesn't want."

"That would by greatly appreciated Kuwabara," Kurama said with a small smile as he steered the girl away from Yusuke and towards the table where breakfast was waiting. When she saw the food the boys were completely forgotten and she attacked it almost as voraciously as a carnivore. "So I'll meet you two after school then?"

"Yeah, since I'm actually going today," Yusuke grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, cuz Keiko threatened him," Kuwabara prodded his friend in the side and was rewarded with a punch.

"Well we'll see ya guys later," Yusuke said as the pair headed for the front door. "Nice meeting you Hana-chan!" The girl waved a hand through the air, not bothering to turn and watch them go.

_"They're nice people, I assure you,"_ Kurama said as he sat down opposite the girl.

_"I am willing to trust these humans because of you, but their species is a predatory one and I cannot trust those I do not know well."_

_"A wise course of action. Yes, there are many dangerous humans out there. When you have finished eating we can leave for school."_ She nodded and stuffed her mouth in double time. _"Don't choke!"_ he exclaimed as he saw her puffed out cheeks as she tried to cram even more into her mouth. She shot him a dirty look that plainly said _'I don't choke.'_

_

* * *

_

As they walked he explained the schooling process to the best of his ability. Hana nodded the whole time with a thoughtful look calming her normally more expressive features. He couldn't be sure that she really understood though. They approached the school building at a leisurely pace, it was still early and Kurama was working through his explanation once more in his head. As they walked to the office he was more than a little thankful for the early hour and scarcity of students in the halls.

"Hello Mr. Minamino," one of his teachers said as he entered.

"Hello Sensei, how are you today?"

"Very well. Oh who's that with you?"

"This is my cousin Minamino Hana," he said, drawing the girl forward by the arm. She smiled nervously and bowed to the teacher who bowed back.

"It's nice to meet you Miss Minamino."

"And you sir," she responded quickly.

"I'll see you in class later Minamino," the teacher called as he left the office.

The vice principal came out of his office and stopped to greet the school's top student. "Sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you about my cousin," Kurama said in his politest, most ass-kissing Japanese. The vice principle smiled benignly and nodded for him to continue. "Hana has just arrived in the country after finishing her year of school abroad, so she won't start her next grade until New Year's. But her Japanese is not very good and her parents would like her to attend a Japanese school, not an international student's school, so they thought perhaps she could sit in on some of my classes. It would be good for her Japanese and prepare her for our school system."

"That's something of an unusual request," the vice principal said slowly.

"Yes sir. I'm very sorry. Her parents would have come themselves but they had to work and they didn't wish her to spend the whole day alone in the house."

"Oh of course not, that's no place for a young girl, cooped up when she could be learning. I quite understand her parents. I think I remember something allowing guest students. Let me check my files Minamino, I'll be back in a moment."

"Of course sir." The vice principal stepped back into his office while the two young people stood staring after him. The secretary watched them with some interest, since her desk was out in the main area of the office she caught most of the passing gossip of teachers and students alike and wanted to see as much as she could of this Minamino in one of his rare visits into her domain. The vice principal reappeared with a smile on his face and a few papers in his hands.

"It seems we can work that out fine, especially for our top student," he said happily. "I just need you to fill out a few papers, won't take a second. And while you do that I'll write a note explaining to your teachers. It's not like any of your classes are overcrowded, they won't mind an extra desk being filled." Kurama filled out the paperwork as quickly as possible, making up the Kanji for Hana's given name and making her fifteen, born April 15, while giving her his own human family name.

"Here you go sir," he said, handing the paperwork back.

"Ah very good, and here you go Mr. Minamino," he handed him the note for his teachers. "I'm glad to have you with us Miss Minamino."

"Thank you very much!" Hana chirped as her 'cousin' led her from the room.

They walked quickly through the halls, Kurama pulling Hana by the hand. There were far more people out now as there were only a few minutes until the bell. He wanted to get to class and get her seated as quickly as possible, with the least amount of fuss. Fate did not intend it to be an easy day for our hero. There was a traffic jam in the hall leading to his class which he had to push and shove to get through, nearly loosing Hana twice. They got inside with a minute to spare, but the room was half-full already and everybody turned to stare as they came in. For the three people in the back who were _not_ aware of his entrance the teacher's shrill voice calling "Mr. Minamino who** is** that!" quickly caught their attention.

He handed the teacher the vice principal's note, and the man proceeded to read every fifth word aloud: "This…cousin…Minamino…foreign…sit in…_several weeks_?" The last part was in an impatient tone as he turned his attention to the red-haired boy. "Is this true Mr. Minamino, your cousin might be with us for quite some time?"

"I'm afraid so sir," he responded quietly, still polite but lacking the respect and approbation he had shown the administrator.

"Well go on and take your seat, _seats_. I just hope she won't be a distraction."

"Hana-chan is very well behaved sir," he said as he pulled her quickly towards the back of the room. 'It is the other students you need to watch,' he couldn't help thinking as he saw some of the girls watching them.

"Just one second Mr. Minamino, where do you think you are going? Just because you are the top student does not mean you can sit in the back and slack off." Kurama sighed and turned around. He pushed Hana into a seat next to the window and took one next to her. It was going to be a long class period.

Finally the remaining students filed in and the bell rang just as the last of them were sinking into their seats. He could hear them whispering about the new girl, the one in street clothes who was sitting next to him. He had expected there to be talk, in fact that was part of the reason he had called Hana his cousin, but he was still unsettled by it. Sometimes he wished he could turn off his sensitive hearing, at least for school hours. Class dragged on, as boring as ever but he still wrote down the notes he didn't need and the examples he could do in his head.

"Chi-chan." He thought he heard something besides the teacher's dull lecture and straightened up. "Chi-chan." A hand brushed his left arm and he glanced over at the girl next to him. "_You told me the point of this place was to learn but it seems more like inane torture. When do you learn? If I take a nap will you wake me up when something important happens?"_ He tried not to laugh as he watched her puff out her cheeks and make faces at him.

_"I thought you wanted to improve your understanding of the language?"_

_"I do, but you won't translate for me. Can I at least have something to eat?"_ He had expected this and packed accordingly. He slid a bag of celery out of his school bag and handed it to her. She smiled at him and began eating immediately.

_"Just don't let the teacher see you," _he said as he went back to his notes.

In the next class she asked him for paper and a pencil, he handed them over without thinking. A half hour later he looked up from the paper he was writing and turned to the side. Hana was bent forward over her desk, her nose inches from the sheet of paper. She was holding the pencil in her left hand, holding it in the middle and making a series of short, quick strokes. He looked around quickly, the teacher had left the room and everyone else was working on their own papers. _"Hana, can I see what you're working on?"_

She sat up and rubbed her nose with her right hand before sneezing twice. _"Ah, it's bad luck to interrupt the artist,"_ she said and handed him the paper. He looked at it carefully, turning the page slowly. A dark line spiraled out from the center of the paper, it was composed of little pencil strokes going in all directions. As the line curved it got wider and the ticks composing it got longer but no thicker. At set intervals, though he could not yet determine those intervals, little lines spiraled off the main one, but instead of getting larger they diminished. It was a pattern he recognized, but like all others of its design it was completely unique. _"You recognize it?"_

_"It's a powerful warding charm."_

_"Only if that's what your story is about,"_ she laughed, taking the paper back from him. _"This is my story of yesterday."_ She spun the paper around on the desk, smacked her hand down on it and went back to writing. _"I learned this from traders from the forest, but it cost me my horns. They were beautiful horns, but they did not help me run so I do not miss them."_ The teacher returned and collected the assignments as the bell rang.

* * *

"Come on, I have gym," Kurama said. 

Hana stood quickly and followed him from the room. He led her outside and turned her over to his gym teacher. The poor man looked perplexed as he read the note Minamino had handed him and looked between it and the girl. He was the boys' gym teacher and she was supposed to be observing, did that mean she would sit with him, or that he should send her over to have gym with the girls? The boy had walked off to change and the girl didn't seem to understand anything he asked her. She just fixed him with a friendly smile before staring at the boys streaming out of the locker room. He decided that things would be easiest for him if she sat out and watched, maybe she could even carry his clipboard.

The boys assembled around their teacher, but most of them were paying more attention to the girl standing next to him. "This is Minamino Hana, Shuichi's cousin," the teacher said by way of refocusing their attention. "She's going to be my little assistant," he handed her the clipboard and she took it with a quick "Hai, sensei!" He ruffled her hair, pleased that things were working out well and pointed out towards the field. "We're going to be doing sprints today boys. So stretch and be in position in three minutes." With more than a few grumbles they headed out to the track. Kurama glanced back at his 'cousin' standing by the teacher. She was watching him intently and he had a sneaking suspicion she would be critiquing everyone's running later.

"I forgot my stop watch," the teacher said suddenly. He patted his pockets and cursed quietly under his breath. "Minamino, could you run back and get it, it's sitting on my desk?" She nodded quickly and ran off.

He walked over to the boys and put them through some warm up exercises. Just as he was about to wonder aloud where the girl had gotten to she appeared at his elbow, the stop watch in one hand, his bottle of water in the other. "Good thinking Minamino!" he exclaimed as he took the stop watch, I will need that water later. You can hold it for me for now. Alright you lazy bums!" he shouted, turning on the boys. "Line up, when I give the signal I want to see you give it all you got!"

"Sir, how far are we running?"

"Just to the first marker there."

"Um, which marker sir?"

Their gym teacher groaned, long and loud. "Hana-chan, see the pole? Go stand next to it and wave, wave your hand," he moved her arm around and she nodded.

"Yes, wave. Hi Sensei! I run?"

"No, the boys run, you stand. Now go down there and wave." She nodded and skipped off. "I'm assuming you can all see Hana-chan. Where she stops is where I expect you to be running to as fast as your legs can take you!" He blew his whistle and the boys took off running.

"Run Chi-chan, run!" Hana yelled, jumping up and down. But she stopped jumping when she saw how long it was taking them. _"You call that running? You would never last on the grasses! My grandma ran faster than that and she got eaten by lions!"_ Kurama had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he pulled ahead of the other boys. _"The lions would grow fat off your flabby carcasses, and the hyenas would never go hungry again!" _Kurama kept his times within human range, but nevertheless he always came in first. Meiou was known for its high test scores, not its athletics. He came to a stop beside the girl and she glared at him. "Pathetic! You run like old people."

"I heard you before," he laughed. He was still trying to hold it in as the others began crossing the finish line.

"You heard? _But you didn't run faster!_" she snapped, stepping back and kicking him in the behind. _"No wonder you have no offspring!"_

"Hana!" he exclaimed, the laughter gone. "Don't kick!" She snorted and crossed her arms, refusing to look at him. _"Hana, I can run faster, but not in front of the humans."_ She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and inclined her head, but kept glaring.

"Nice time Minamino, like always," the teacher said as he came up behind the slowest students. "The rest of you better shape up, follow Minamino's example here! Now let's play some basketball." He herded the boys off to the basketball court, next to where the girls were playing volleyball and more than a few of them got hit in the face while their eyes were elsewhere. Hana stood on the sides with the coach, while he was shouting at them to dribble and keep moving she kept up a commentary in her own guttural and fluttering language.

"What's she saying Minamino?" one of the guys asked as they ran past her.

"You don't want to know."

"Why, is she flirting with you?" he teased.

"No, she's calling us all pathetically uncoordinated giraffes." 'And other, more gruesome things,' he thought as he listened to the girl's description of what happened to such lazy weak creatures where she was from and tried very hard not to laugh.


	5. Chapter 5: When Fangirls Attack

5 When Fangirls Attack

* * *

:3 Yay for five parts, I feel accomplished. But next week there will probably be no updates as I'm moving, then I have to wait for the internet to get hooked up at the new house, that or I go to school. I'll try and get another part out this week though... Hopefully

* * *

They returned to the classroom after gym, Hana was still hideously disappointed in Kurama and he was still highly amused by her insults. "Ah Mr. Minamino, I see your cousin is attending class with you today." Hana jumped slightly and looked at the new teacher; he was the one they had met in the office that morning. Kurama relaxed slightly, this teacher liked him and was unusually lax, not that he had had any reason to take advantage of that before. This was also the period that lunch fell in, and many of the other students had already gotten their lunches and gone outside. 

Kurma picked up their lunches and headed for the door. He didn't want to sit in the classroom today, he wanted to find a quiet spot where there would be no classmates asking questions and no girls pestering him. "Chi-chan runs slow, trips on his own feet," Hana sang out as she skipped after him. "Falls down, stepped on, silly Chi-chan."

"Hana-chan, I'd appreciate it if you didn't sing that," he said as he pushed out into the crowded hallway. It looked as if everybody intended on sitting outside on such a nice day. He pushed forward a bit more when he noticed her song had stopped. "Hana-chan?" He turned around sharply to see the crowd pressing up against him, his normal set of fangirls moving in, but the demoness was gone. "Hana!" he called slightly louder, standing on his toes and looking around. He noticed that the girls were concentrated behind him and were responsible for most of the pushing he was doing his best to resist.

"Chi-chan!" He heard the shout over the buzz of noise in the hall and began pushing back towards the source, for once not politely pausing to apologize to each person he bumped out of the way. "Chi-ahhh!" He saw a crowd had gathered, circled as they normally do when there's a fight and he knocked the gathered students out of his way, thankful his demon's strength made this an easy task. He had seen adult men, bulky men at that, have great difficult wading through the sea of teenagers.

"God, are you crying you little baby?" A harsh female voice audible even at a distance, Hoshi he thought her name was. The group had circled around her and Hana and Hoshi was advancing on the other girl with a sneer on her face and her hand raised. Hana looked smaller than Hoshi at the moment, her lean form and hunched body added to the illusion though he knew the demoness was really taller than the human. She had both hands covering her injured ear. Kurama shot forward, his arms wrapping around Hana as Hoshi's hand came down. He felt the sharp pain of her claw-like nails digging into his skin.

Hoshi gasped as she saw who she had scratched. 'The president of the Minamino Shuichi fanclub attacks the object of her affection,' Kurama thought wryly as he fixed a very cold glare on the girl. "Shuichi-kun, you should have heard the things this girl was saying!" Hoshi was trying to save face and doing a very poor job of it.

"Chi-chan," Hana said quietly. "You bleed." He looked down carelessly and saw four lines on his forearm dripping red.

"It doesn't matter," he said loosening his hold on her. "Did she hurt you?" His hand reached up to brush the hair back from her ear and she cringed away, covering it. "She got you in the ear." He felt the crowd draw back a pace and realized the anger must have been apparent in his voice. Anger no one at his school had seen before. "No one is to lay a hand on Hana-chan," he said slowly, aware that they heard every word. For the first time he wanted them to be afraid. "I do not look kindly upon attacks on my family members." He pulled Hana along by her waist and the circle parted to let them through.

_"Chi-chan, you are an idiot,"_ Hana muttered as he pulled her away from the scene as fast as possible. He was heading for the roof, one of the few places that was guaranteed to be next to empty.

_"And why am I an idiot Hana?" _

_"You should have let her scratch me, instead of taking an injury yourself. I am already hurt."_

_"Hana, things work differently here. People are willing to suffer injuries to save those around them from being hurt. And most injuries do not lead to death; they will not weaken you so that a predator can eat you."_

_"That may be,"_ she said slowly as he pushed open the door to the roof and she stepped out into the sunlight. _"In this world you are my herd, you have looked after me and taken me in, but I would not be hurt for you and I cannot understand you being hurt for me."_

He smiled and looked up at the sky as the door banged shut behind him. Clouds were drifting overhead bathed in the sunlight and the air was warm and fresh. _"Hiei once said much the same thing. In fact he would still say it, but now he does not mean it. I too was of your opinion when I arrived in the human world, but the kindness and affection of those I met changed my mind."_ He drew his eyes away from the vast blueness and looked at her with an affectionate smile. She pursed her lips and shook her head, still telling herself he was crazy.

"Here, let's have lunch." He walked to the edge of the roof and sat down then patted the space next to him. She followed obediently and sank to her knees in a close imitation of the way she'd seen the other girls sit. He handed her a bento box and she opened it greedily. A herbivore spent most of its day eating. While she was occupied, he pushed back her hair and looked at her damaged ear, the bandage was still in place, but it was red with blood, more blood than had a right to be there. _"She reopened the wound,"_ he said quietly.

_"The bitch."_ Kurama stared at her, for some reason it surprised him to hear her curse, and so casually too. She didn't even look up from her meal as she added a few more curses under her breath for good measure. "I not understand why she attack me," Hana said slowly, taking her time to pronounce each word.

"She was probably jealous of the fact that you were spending time with me," her companion replied as he began on his own lunch. _"People act like that sometimes. Because they are trying to establish bonds with each other they can react violently if they are immature and they see someone threatening a bond they wish to form."_

_"So she wishes to have your offspring, but you have turned her down as inferior and now she hates any woman who might bare your children?"_

"In a way," he said slowly, still slightly aggravated by her way of relating all relationships back to offspring and their production. _"Except, it's not about reproduction to humans. To them it is about _love_, a strong affection for someone based completely on their characteristics and your interactions."_

_"I shall ask Yusuke to explain what humans think this _love_ is later,"_ she said as she rubbed her ear. "I not think I understand your explanations."

"You should ask Kuwabara then," he said with a laugh. "Yusuke would not admit his feelings out loud, but Kuwabara will go into more detail then you could ever wish to know." He put his hand on the ground to shift his weight and felt a sharp pain shoot along his arm. Looking down he saw the scratches, they had been scabbing over, but his sudden movement pulled them open again.

"Silly Chi-chan, how you forget?" Hana laughed as she unwound one of the bandaged from her arm, "Give arm," she directed, gesturing at him. He held out his arm, watching carefully as she spun the bandage off her arm. "This no bleed," she said, showing him the clean white gauze that had covered a particularly nasty looking cut that had been weeping the night before. She grabbed her untouched water and poured some over his arm before whipping around the gauze and spinning it around his arm. It was a neat, efficient wrap, tied off faster then he had ever seen. _"Just because the injured get eaten does not mean we do not try to help them,"_ she said in response to his surprised look. _"No one likes to see the herd diminished."_

_

* * *

_

They returned from lunch without incident and settled in to sit through the rest of the school day. When classes finally finished for the day Kurama had to wake Hana up, she had somehow fallen asleep sitting up. She yawned loudly and followed him out, holding on to the back of his shirt so she didn't get separated again. Once outside she brightened up and began stretching as she smelled the fresh air.

_"Let's run Kurama. As long as you don't repeat that disappointing trot you did this morning."_

_"I'm not sure right now's the best time Hana."_

She snorted and bent her knees while hitching up her skirt slightly. _"You mean you cannot run faster and are afraid I will mock you more?"_

_"Just to the end of the street,"_ he said, pointing straight ahead of them. "Three blocks."

"Fine," she said. _"This form should be enough for now." _ They bent down, watching the traffic flow. One glance was all it took and they both shot off. Kurama pulled ahead immediately. He had to force himself not to look back for her, but instead think of why she wouldn't be faster than him. His foot was jerked back suddenly and he stumbled realizing it was a 'flat tire.' A hand hit his back and there was the swish of fabric over his head. As he looked up he saw the dark blur running in front of him. She zigzagged between the pedestrians and quickly disappeared from sight. Kurama hadn't stopped moving, but he had slowed down for a second to recover. Now he pushed himself again, running as fast as he could, but he couldn't catch sight of her anywhere. He was starting to worry as he crossed onto the second block and still couldn't find any sign of the demoness, but he kept running.

The redhead skidded to a halt at the corner, causing many strange looks and stares from the people waiting for the light to change. "Slow!" A girl squeaked and Kurama felt a finger jab his side. He spun around and grabbed her wrist while still panting. Her voice rattled on in its pleasant tones as she gestured and poked him but he was still catching his breath and completely missed what she was saying. He could guess though, he could also guess he was better off not hearing.

Once he'd caught his breath he straightened up and taking her hand, tugging her around the corner and down another street. He had not been specific on _where_ he would meet Yusuke earlier and hoped he could reach the boy's school before Yusuke decided to come looking for him. He turned down another street and smiled when he saw the two boys headed towards them.

Hana had only been slightly disappointed with the speed of her human form. She had managed to beat the fox hands down, and her speed was only a shade slower than in her demon form, though it was a bit more unsteady in sharp turns. 'The cost of being bipedal,' she'd thought as she was waiting for him to catch up. When he did she was surprised to find him out of breath, she hadn't even been winded by the short sprint. But when she'd told him what she thought about it he hadn't been listening and now he was still not listening as he pulled her along. She'd told him at least three times to let go but he was still holding her hand, another sign that he had tuned her out. 'Maybe it is not such a good thing to be mistaken for a youngling then,' she thought with a glare at her keeper as he came to a sudden stop and she walked into him.

"Hana, be careful!" Kurama exclaimed as he felt the girl bounce off his back. He caught her arms as she was falling and pulled her back to her feet. Yusuke snickered and hit Kuwabara with his school bag.

"Urameshi, what was that for!"

"Eh," the shorter boy shrugged. He stepped forward and punched Kurama in the arm with a wicked smile. "Had a good day at school today? Plenty of distraction from boring old work?"

"_Bitch_ scratch him," Hana said, grabbing Kurama's arm and pointing at the bandage.

"What happened?" Kuwabara asked.

"One of the girls was trying to scratch Hana and I got in her way," Kurama said carelessly. He quickly pulled his arm from Hana's grip and moved it out of view.

"She must have cried when she saw that she got you instead!" Yusuke laughed. "Poor Hana-chan bringing down the wrath of the fangirls. So Hana, ready for life with a human?" he asked, laughing heartily.

She cocked her head to the side, watching him with her large, liquid eyes. "You ready me?"

Kurama chuckled. "She can be something of a handful Yusuke, though her grasp of Japanese seems to gain exponentially. I am sure you will manage to answer her questions despite not being fluent in her dialect."

"Uh, in a language we can understand?"

"I talk well, talk much," Hana said patiently. "What that?" she pointed at a bus going by on the street. "Not car? Too Big."

"Er, that's a bus Hana," Yusuke said.

"Yusuke," Kurama said, redirecting their attention. "I have arranged for Hana to attend school with me as my visiting cousin. If you can get her to Meiou in the morning I will be able to handle the rest of the day. Most days I think it would be perfectly reasonable for her to come to my house after school so I can teach her more Japanese, and about this world. I asked for your assistance because I cannot have her sleeping at my house. That would not sit well with my family. If there's anything I can do to make her presence," he paused and looked at the girl carefully before returning his attention to Yusuke, "less of a burden, please tell me immediately."

"Don't worry about it!" Yusuke laughed, throwing an arm around Hana's shoulders and drawing her over. "Hell, don't think you're going to hog all her time either. If we're gonna teach her about the human world, we're gonna do it right! Tonight's lesson is Introduction to Channel Surfing. This weekend we'll start with Basic Arcade Gaming since that's an all day event!"

Kuwabara smiled brightly. "I'm sure Keiko and Botan would love to teach her Aggressive Shopping Tactics and Mall Geography."

The males all burst out laughing while the girl looked at them curiously. Yusuke stiffened suddenly and stifled a surprised cry as he felt a hand pinching his thigh. "Kurama what's she doing?" he asked as he jumped away from the girl.

"Hana!" Kurama exclaimed. She turned her innocent eyes to him from where she was crouching on the pavement.

_"I was not initiating mating,"_ she sniffed. _"I wanted to check his leg muscles; they seem more developed than yours."_ Kurama stiffened slightly and bit back his comment of 'And how would you know?' _"He is faster than you, no?"_ Kurama gave a slight nod, still suspicious of where this was headed. Hana straightened up, her eyes fixed on Yusuke, who was watching her closely. "Run," she said, pointing down the street.

"Uh, what?"

"Race! Run. Run!" She started bouncing up and down like she'd done in gym. Then she stopped and slapped her legs, pointing again. "Race!" She started bouncing again.

"She wants to race you down the street Yusuke," Kurama said, the amusement in his tone coming back at the girl's one-track mind. "She thinks I am far too slow and hopes you are faster."

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Yusuke smirked, handing Kuwabara his bag. "To the hill and back, first one to hit Kuwabara wins. You understand?" Her face broke out into a grin and she nodded enthusiastically. "Kurama, you say when."

"Hey, how come you guys win by hitting me?"

Kurama watched as they both got into position, the girl twisting her feet around, obviously still not used to running full out in her human form. "Go," he said when they were ready and they shot off. Like she'd done before Hana immediately fell in behind Yusuke, keeping his pace exactly two steps behind him. But she didn't flat-tire him Kurama noted as they raced uphill. She had hitched the skirt up to her knees to allow her legs movement and the sight of her blurred form was slightly amusing especially with the incongruous addition of a pair of his old sneakers and the double pair of socks she was wearing to keep them on her feet. Suddenly she weaved out from behind Yusuke and shot ahead. There were only a few people on the sidewalk but instead of barreling through them like the human she was making a show of weaving in and out, her body leaning into each sudden turn.

She reached the top of the hill and turned around, but at her speed couldn't do it very sharply and veered dangerously out onto the road. Kuwabara made a hissing noise as he drew air in between his teeth while watching her. She was back on the sidewalk in a millisecond though and hurtling back towards them. Yusuke stuck out a foot to trip her as they passed but she jumped right over it and kept going. The boy got to the top a second later and spun around on the spot, glaring down at the girl. He wasn't terribly far behind her, but her lead was growing with each step, even though it looked like they both kept their paces the same. Hana came towards them at full blast her eyes wide with delight. She threw out her arms while yelling "Wheeeeeee!" and ran straight into Kuwabara. The large boy was knocked flat on his back by the impact while the girl merrily rolled to her feet and started jumping up and down again.

Yusuke came to a screeching halt and plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk, holding his side. "Good God she can run!"

* * *

Yusuke and Kuwabara brought Hana over to Kuwabara's house while Kurama went home, still reassuring himself that he'd turned the girl over to the right people. "Yo sis, you here?" Kuwabara yelled as he tossed his book bag in the general direction of a chair. Yusuke followed, dropping his bag and stepping out of his shoes. 

Hana observed them then quickly sat down and pulled off her own shoes. She walked forward on her knees to set the pair of sneakers exactly next to Yusuke, adjusting the backs so they were exactly lined up.

"Those things look way too big for you," Yusuke said as Shizuru emerged from the depths of the house.

"Yes," Hana nodded and got to her feet. "Kurama's."

"Who's that?" They both turned to look at the tall girl as she brushed some brown locks from her face.

"This is Hana. Hana this is my sister Shizuru."

"Hello!" Hana called, jumping forward to get a better look at the girl.

"She's a demon."

"Yup, fresh from the demon world," Yusuke said. "Kurama picked her up yesterday."

"Picked her up?"

"Found her in the park," Kuwabara corrected. "Hiei thought he was crazy for taking her in, but he can't keep her at his house without freaking out his mom."

"So she's mine now," Yusuke smirked, throwing his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"You've got to be kidding me. And he trusted her with you guys? He really must have gone crazy, I thought Kurama had more sense."

"Aw sis, don't be mean. We stopped over to see if you have any old clothes you don't want any more since Hana doesn't have any."

She paused, her eyebrows going up as she looked at the girl, her eyes flicking over the too-big clothes, then to the boy's tennis shoes sitting next to Yusuke's. "Yeah, come on back Hana-chan." She waved and the girl stepped forward cautiously, glancing around at the three humans.

"Don't worry, Shizuru doesn't bite," Yusuke assured her.

She actually looked relieved by this statement and walked forward with more confidence. "You're pretty jumpy, aintcha?" Shizuru laughed as she took Hana's arm and led her into her bedroom. The boys high-fived at their success and started wrestling. "You're definitely smaller than me Hana-chan," Shizuru said as she sat the girl down on her bed and went to her closet. "Well about my height, but skinny as anything. Do you eat, girl?"

"Grasses, leaves, some shrubs. But human food different, strange." Shizuru snorted slightly and reached into her closet.

"Okay, what's too small for me?" She pulled out a skirt and a couple pairs of pants then turned to her dresser for shirts. "I never wear this," she said tossing something onto the bed. "Or this. And this shrunk in the last wash, stupid brother. Wow, can't believe I still have this top, must be from middle school. I wonder if I still have any training bras," she mused as she moved to another drawer.

"Bra?"

"Uh, are you wearing one?" Shizuru asked, pointing at the girl. Hana patted her chest then plucked at the shirt fabric. "No underneath that, a bra?"

"Nothing under, just shirt."

"Figures he forgot that. I'm assuming those are Kurama's mom's old clothes?" The demoness nodded after a moment of digesting the possessives in that question. "Typical boy." Shizuru folded up the clothes on the bed and placed them in a paper bag. "Okay, let's go hit up the boys for money and get you a bra or two." She glanced down and saw the two pairs of athletic socks on the girl's feet as they swung back and forth over the edge of the bed. "We'll fix that too."

Hana jumped to her feet and followed the human girl from the room. "Thank you very much Shizuru-san!" She remembered was the appropriate response to this kind gesture.

"Okay boys, Hana-chan needs your help now." Both boys turned expectantly. "Two thousand yen a piece." Their jaws dropped. "Come on hand it over.Think of it as dues for getting your little demon pet."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Kazuma I know you just got your allowance! Hand over the money." Yusuke started sliding towards the door. "And you too Urameshi, no getting out of it."

"What do you want the money for Shizuru, we just asked you to **give** her some **old** clothes!"

Shizuru glanced back at the girl and deciding that she wouldn't be embarrassed said: "Don't you guys want to buy a pretty girl her first bra? And a cute pair of shoes, she's wearing Kurama's old ones."

They were gaping, staring at Hana, who was watching them back with a curious expression. "You mean, she doesn't, doesn't have one on?" Kuwabara was aghast, but intrigued.

"What, you guys think Kurama lent her one of his? Wallets, now." They reached into their pockets and with many a sigh and dark look pulled out the bills. "That wasn't so hard was it?" Shizuru smirked as she pocketed the money and steered the demoness towards the door.


	6. Chapter 6: AoCO

6 Agents of Capitalistic Oppression

* * *

I pulled out my manga for this section to reread Shizuru's first appearance, where she gives Keiko clothes after the fire. I was actually kind of surprised to see that she's 17 when introduced, only three years older then Yusuke, who's 14 at that point. She seems pretty mature a lot of the time which is probably why fic writers tend to portray her as older. Also the anime getting rid of Kuwabara's parents and making it just the siblings probably has something to do with that. The book also says she's an aspiring beautician :3

* * *

_Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid  
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;  
Hands that the rod of empire might have sway'd  
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre._

Shizuru walked down the street with confident authority, three not-so-sure people trialing behind her. Hana was holding onto the back of her shirt as they walked and doing a skip every third step to keep pace with the human. Yusuke and Kuwabara were several paces back, grumbling and looking around every few seconds. "You boys didn't have to come if it's going to make you so uncomfortable."

"We couldn't just let you two go off, what if something attacked?"

"Hana's a demon isn't she?"

"I no fight," Hana remarked. "I run."

"You run away?" Shizuru asked, looking back at the girl.

She nodded quickly. "Not, not a…. no know word." She gave the human woman a pained expression. "No eat animal, eat plant."

"A vegetarian you mean?" Kuwabara asked.

"The word's herbivore when you're talking about animals," Shizuru snapped. "And I'm guessing this means that she's like some kind of peaceful demon."

"She just gets weirder and weirder," Yusuke laughed. "First she doesn't know what humans are, now she tells us she doesn't fight. What next, she's girlier and perkier than Botan?"

"Aw quit your bellyaching," the older girl called back as she turned into a store. "And you two might want to wait outside."

"Why would we want to—oh." Kuwabara stopped in front of the double doors, turning pink. Yusuke came to a dead stop too and eyed the merchandise in the window skeptically. "Yeah outside is good."

"Damn that frilly stuff looks expensive, she better not come out demanding more money!"

"As long as she doesn't want us to carry the lingerie bags I don't care if she takes my whole wallet!"

-Twenty Minutes Later-"Kazu, come help us with the bags! Wha, you don't have to take those Hana." The boys were saved from the indignity of carrying the bag as Hana took it and headed off in the direction Shizuru had pointed the shoe store as being in earlier. They trotted along after her. Shizuru had to jump forward and turn her around by the shoulders to direct her into the shoe store she'd just walked past.

"We should have just enough for a nice pair of sandals or mary janes."

They walked down the aisles of the shoe store with the boys looking bored and Shizuru picking out cute shoes in all the sizes. Hana looked over the fancy shoes with disdain when the trainers caught her eye. She headed straight for these strange things. In the whole store they most closely resembled the shoes Kurama had given her. She slipped several boxes off the shelves and tried on different pairs until she figured out what size fit. Then associating the one character that was different with the size she tried on different styles in the same size. Shizuru dragged her back over to the pile she'd created and made her try on cute shoes to match her skirt. Hana let her feet be squeezed into all manner of uncomfortable contraptions. She let them walk her around the store in these different shoes. She even let them put a different shoe on each foot to compare them. But once Shizuru and the saleswoman were done she held out the box with the sneakers in it.

"You're kidding right?" Yusuke groaned. "All that trouble and she wants sneakers?"

"Oh well, I know what we're getting her with you next month's allowance," the brunette smiled at her brother, who paled. She handed the clerk a pair of black, closed-toe heels to put on reserve and took the sneakers up to the desk.

"Hey Hana, wanna show us what you got in the first store?" Yusuke asked, pointing at the bag the girl was still holding. She blinked at him then held the bag open and looked down into it.

"Urameshi! You can't look at a girl's underwear like that!" Kuwabara yelled, hitting his friend in the back of the head. Hana jumped out of the way as Yusuke hit the floor. He was up again in a second and had Kuwabara in a headlock.

"Hey, if she wants to show us what's in the bag its up to her isn't it Kuwabara? I was just asking what she got with out money, is all!" Kuwabara found himself unable to reply as his air supply had been cut off. As he started turning blue Hana made a loud squeaking noise and began jumping up and down while pointing at him.

"Urameshi, let my brother go!" Shizuru hit both boys upside their heads. "You're freaking out Hana-chan." Turning to Hana she said "Don't worry, they do that all the time. Here you go." She handed the girl another bag.

Hana took it and looked in curiously to see the shoe box at the bottom. 'Why not just give me the box?' she wondered as she followed the strange group from the store. She was still trying to determine whether these humans were matriarchal or patriarchal. She could tell they were some type of herding group, one that split into smaller groups then reformed bigger ones. At Kurama's house she had found them like lions, with the male nominally in charge, the first to eat, but the female doing the work. Now with these three the female was ordering the males around. 'Like hyenas,' she thought as Shizuru hit the boys again. She wanted to ask who was socially dominant, but had no way of phrasing the question in an understandable manner. So she stayed quiet and kept observing.

* * *

"Okay, now you guys can run off and do whatever," Shizuru said. "Just don't take advantage of that poor girl!" 

"Don't worry sis, I'll keep Urameshi in line!"

"What are you talking about? You're as bad as he is! Are you gonna be back for dinner?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be back," he said, waving her away. The group split, Shizuru headed home while the boys and Hana were headed to Yusuke's apartment. They arrived and Hana looked up at the tall building with almost as much apprehension as when a car first drove by her.

"Come on, elevator's over here," Yusuke said. He pulled her over to the large metal doors and pressed a button. Hana didn't like the sound it made, she didn't like the way it smelled, and she most certainly didn't like the confined space behind those doors when they slid open. "Whoa there" Yusuke said as she tried to bolt and he caught her. "It's just an elevator it won't hurt you." The girl was bouncing up and down in his arms, twisting and turning with her limbs flailing out. "Damnit Kuwabara, hold the door while I get her inside!"

The taller boy jumped forward and grabbed the elevator door as Yusuke dragged the demon backwards into the thing. She was now shrieking as Kuwabara stepped into the elevator after them and pounded the 'door close' button. Her warbling voice reverberated around the interior, drowning out the muzak. As the elevator jumped to life the girl's shrieking jumped several pitches.

Yusuke was still yelling "It's okay! Nothing's going to hurt you!" when the doors open and the girl shot out of his arms. She ran straight into the wall and hugged it, sinking to her knees and panting. The boys stepped out of the elevator carefully. They made sure to stay silent and still as they watched her breathing return to normal. Her head turned slowly and her black eyes fixed them with an accusing glare. They both swallowed. "Hey, it didn't hurt you! More like you broke my eardrums!" Yusuke snorted, rubbing his ear. "And it sure as hell beats taking the stairs!" He walked past her down the hallway and unlocked one of the doors. Kuwabara followed more slowly, skirting around the girl and keeping his eyes fixed on her.

"Look," Yusuke said as he shoved his friend into his apartment. "You can come in with us, or you can stay out here until someone a lot scarier than either of us comes along and snags you." He turned around and began very slowly walking into his apartment. Hana staid on the floor for a moment debating, having only understood about half of what he said. She had told Kurama she would trust these boys, and the ride had not done more than scared her to death so she jumped to her feet and ran in after Yusuke. He let out a huge sigh as she bolted into the room. "Good choice Hana-chan."

"I'm really sorry you were scared," Kuwabara said as he swept a mountain of bottles and cans from the couch. "We had no idea you would be freaked out, to us it's normal to ride in elevators."

"Elevator?"

"Yeah, the big box we came up here in," Yusuke was shoveling empty bottles into a big trash bag as he spoke.

"Up?" She looked around curiously and saw a window. She moved towards it, wanting to see just where they were, and maybe get a breath of air not so thoroughly polluted with alcohol. She gasped as what she saw. They were several floors up, but she had gone up no stairs, climbed no hills. She pressed her hand to the glass as the guys laughed. 'The magic box did this, it moves people very fast. The elevator.'

Yusuke took out the overflowing bag of trash and when he returned the other two helped him open all the windows and they taught Hana what dusting was. They were trying to convince her that sweeping the floor was actually fun when there was a knock on the door. Yusuke answered it to a brown haired girl who was slightly shorter than him. Hana looked at her intently, wondering what relation she had to the boys. "Hey Yusuke I just wanted to thank you for actually showing up at school today," the girl said as she came in. Then she spotted Hana. "Hey, who's she?"

Not missing a beat Yusuke smiled and said "She's Kurama's new pet. He found her in the park yesterday, a lost little demon."

"Uh, why's she with you then?"

"Because his mom would freak if he had a strange girl move into their house, whereas my mom," he waved a hand around and shrugged. The woman he was referring to was obviously absent.

"Aw Yusuke, you're such a softie," the girl smiled. The boy frowned and crossed his arms, trying very hard not to smile back.

"Hana, this is Yusuke's girlfriend Keiko," Kuwabara said to the poor demoness who'd been left out of the conversation about her. "Keiko, this is Hana-chan."

"It's very nice to meet you," both girls said simultaneously. Keiko laughed and smiled brightly. "I'm sure the boys are treating you well, but if they don't let me know and I'll beat them both silly for you."

"Yes," Hana said, doing her little bow and eliciting an "Aw how cute!" from Keiko.

"Yeah, but what would really help too is if you have any old clothes you could give her," Yusuke said. "We hit up Shizuru earlier and she pulled out some stuff, but then she hustled me an' Kuwabara and went panty shopping."

"Oh, let's see what you got Hana-chan!" she exclaimed. "Shizuru's got some pretty interesting clothes, I should know." She laughed and followed Hana to where she'd placed her bags under the window. Keiko rooted through them making little comments as she looked over the items and told the girl what tops would match which bottoms. Yusuke glanced up at the clock.

"Ah, bout time to start dinner, Keiko you stayin'?"

"Oh! That late already? I'm sorry, I have to go home, but I'll see you in school tomorrow Yusuke!" She bounced out the door with a wave and smile, leaving her boyfriend half-frowning after her.

"Oi, I guess that means I should probably be heading home too," Kuwabara punched Yusuke's arm. "I'll see ya tomorrow, don't get into too much trouble before then!"

"You know I'll save it for you dumbass!" Yusuke called as his friend headed out the door. "Well it's just you and me kid." He turned and looked at Hana who stared back at him with her watery eyes. "You like instant noodles?"

"No meat."

"Yeah, you're Miss Vegetarian, I'll keep that in mind." She followed him into the kitchen and hovered behind him, watching over his shoulder as he whipped up a quick batch of noodles. "That's kinda creepy, just for future reference," he said, pushing her back with his foot.

"Creepy?"

"Not cool, weird, sketchy, like the odd kid in the corner with thick glasses who eats glue and talks to himself. Not good."

"Sorry."

"It's ok, lemme introduce you to the TV."

"TV?" She followed him into the living room where he set the bowls down on the floor and walked up to a large black box. He laid his head down on the top and stroked the side of the box with a dreamy sigh. "Ah my first friend, and the best babysitter ever."

"Creepy." He snapped back to reality and glared at the girl.

"Hey, no using my own words against me! Let me tell you the TV is great. Okay how it works is somebody goes out with a camera and takes pictures, the pictures get sent out to everybody's TV's," he waved his hands through the air, wiggling his fingers to imply little particles. "Then we turn it on and see the pictures people took." He paused to think for a second. "But there aren't actually people in the TV, you'll see pictures of them, but if you opened the TV there aren't people in it, there's like wires and stuff. Oh and not everything's real. They make stuff up, script it then have people act it out. Understand?"

"No."

"Oh well, Kurama can probably explain it better." He picked up the remote and dropped down next to is bowl of noodles. When the black screen flashed on the demoness jumped, but she was drawn in by the bright colors. She moved forward cautiously and sat down next to the boy who was already slurping his noodles.

* * *

"Chi-chan!" Kurama looked up and saw the demoness happily bounding towards him. Yusuke was a block behind her, clutching his side and breathing heavily. "We run!" she exclaimed as she saw him looking at Yusuke. "Yusuke very much fun! Show me TV," her eyes were saucer-sized as she thought about the magical box. "_You must explain the _pictures_ that float through air to me!_" Yusuke caught up to them and shook his head as Kurama smiled. 

"Not only does she wake me up at the crack of dawn because she can't find the toilet herself, she makes me pick out her clothes, get her breakfast and go to school! I mean I might as well since I'm up and dressed."

"It sounds like she's good for you then Yusuke," the redhead responded.

"Nah. I'll see you guys later," he waved, beginning to walk away.

"Would you like to come over for dinner?" Kurama called at his friend's retreating back.

"Yeah sure!" Yusuke responded with a shrug before vanishing down the street.

"Shizuru's clothes," Hana said, pointing at herself. Kurama looked at her knee-length red skirt and white blouse with approval, it didn't stand out as much from the girl's uniform as what she'd been wearing the day before. Then he saw the brown and white sneakers at the bottom of her knee socks. They were brand new shoes.

"How'd you get those?" he asked, pointing down.

"Shizuru hustled Yusuke and Kuwabara for money. 'Let's go hit up the boys for money. Two thousand yen a piece. Come on hand it over.'" Her voice was an uncanny imitation of Shizuru's as she held out her hand to an imaginary Kuwabara.

Kurama couldn't help chuckling. "She made them give her four thousand yen for shoes?"

"And other things, they acted very strange. Yusuke and Kuwabara not come in the store, _they made jokes I didn't understand about the bag and Kuwabara kept hitting Yusuke and calling him_ a pervert."

"Well, they are strange boys," Kurama said quickly. "Let's go inside." He led her through the building and she was unusually silent as they walked. "What's the matter Hana-chan?" he asked as they entered the classroom. Luckily the high-strung first period teacher wasn't there yet.

"Yusuke told me something to tell you," she said glancing around the classroom. "I don't understand the words. He said: 'Kurama will kill me if you say it in front of his classmates, but it'd be a helluva lot funnier.'" She looked at him with her big, innocent eyes.

"You should probably say it very quietly then," the fox responded, well aware that whatever message Yusuke had told her was not a good one. She leaned towards him, cupping her hands around her mouth as she whispered. Kurama's posture went very stiff and he flushed then went pale. "I am going to kill him," he said in a low voice as she finished. "I can't believe he taught you that."

"Yusuke teach me many words!" she chirped happily. Yusuke had refused to explain the words in his message but by asking him about individual words throughout the course of the night she had gotten most of it figured out and found the demon's reaction highly entertaining. Yusuke had also told her what she should call people in different situations, like what to call someone who bumped into her in the hall, and what to call one of the demon's fangirls.

"Don't repeat anything Yusuke taught you!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Not even: goddamn teachers always-" He clapped his hand over her mouth but she kept talking.

"Hana!"

"Mr. Minamino, what is going on in here?" The teacher had arrived.

"I'm sorry sir," he replied immediately, shooting the girl a warning look as he removed his hand. "I'm afraid one of my friends taught my cousin some vulgar language yesterday and she doesn't understand how offensive it is."

"Your_ friends_ Mr. Minamino?"

"His idea of a joke, sir," Kurama replied in clipped tones.

"Miss Minamino, what exactly did your cousin's friend teach you?" the teacher asked. His face seemed to take on something of an elated air as he faced the prospect of proving everybody's golden boy was a bit tarnished.

She smiled brightly and Kurama felt his stomach dropping in anticipation of whatever the foul-mouthed youth had taught the demoness. "He said teachers are self-aggrandizing agents of capitalistic repression bent on smothering the souls of students with the operose and monotonous drudgery they dub 'school work.'" The teacher blinked. "He also said thanks for the thesaurus," she whispered to the gaping fox. "We had fun looking that up, but it took me a while to memorize it."

He silently led her to a seat and indicated that she should sit down. She gave him another innocent smile as he sat next to her, but he was far more suspicious of her than he had previously been. More suspicious than when he'd found her in the woods. In less than forty-eight hours she'd picked up that much Japanese? It was too impossible. _"You have to teach me to write Kurama,"_ she said with a bright smile in his direction. She didn't seem to recognize his return to an emotionless expression as he looked at her. Class started and all conversation died.

* * *

Hana walked home with Kurama, carrying his bag and skipping down the street. She danced circles around him as he walked while swinging his bag up in the air. He was doing his best to act like this was normal behavior and keep his cool. They were about two blocks from his house and all of his fans had been left far behind when Hana stopped dead in her tracks behind him. It took him a few steps before he noticed. When he turned around he saw her arms hanging loose, looking like she was about to drop his bag, her eyes were fixed on his and her posture betrayed her to be on the edge of fight. 

_"Kurama, are you going to kill me?"_

He looked at her in shock, completely unbalanced by this question. He had been running through possibilities in his head but hadn't expected such an accusation. He had been expecting to be the one making accusations. "Of course not."

_"Then why are you acting strangely. Ever since first class you have been stiff, not looking at me, not laughing at me, you wouldn't answer my questions. You turned on me."_

"Hana that's not true. I might have been withdrawn, but only because I was thinking."

_"Thinking which sauce would go best with my meat over your cooking fires?" _

He laughed a little at this, it was a sad noise, devoid of any enjoyment. The girl's posture shifted more towards running at the strange sound. _"Actually I was considering whether or not you truly are who you told me you are. I was wondering if it was possible that you deceived me and were really a threat."_ Her black eyes met the emerald orbs, expressing her discontent and incredulity. She could see the fox in his eyes, the shifting unwillingness to be pinned down in anything, the way he was reevaluating her with her every movement, and deeper down the mistrust and suspicion. A mistrust deeper seated and much more difficultly overcome than her own.

She dropped his bag and he was about to spring forward in chase when he realized she wasn't running. She turned slowly and began to walk down a side street towards a nearby park. He followed her carefully, picking up his school bag as he passed it. She walked into the park and straight for a secluded back corner. Her shoes and socks were off by the time Kurama arrived and he watched in surprise as a sandy haze enveloped her figure.

When the haze faded away he was faced with a complete surprise. The beast before him was at least four feet high at its shoulders, its elegant head rising to an even higher 150 cm or so. It took him a second to identify her as some type of antelope. She had a dark chestnut hide, but white cheeks and belly, and as she turned her head to look at him with one limpid black eye he saw a bristly black mane running along her neck. Her head was on the level of his shoulder and she bumped against him as if to say 'do you believe me now?' He could just see two little black nubs on her forehead where her horns had been before she'd traded them. _"I'm sorry I doubted you Hana,"_ he said, cautiously reaching out to touch her mane.

The tan haze was back and a second later he found himself patting the top of her head _"Well it's not like I can really expect your kind to make snap decisions and stick with them," _she yawned.

"You should probably put your clothes back on."

"Hmph, you and clothes. _Yusuke didn't seem to think they were that important last night_." He stood there, looking up at the trees while she pulled her shirt on, trying to dissect that comment. It was definitely an opinion Yusuke would have voiced, but it was also something she would say just to provoke him into an agitated reaction. He bit his lip trying to decide which was true when she burst out laughing and bumped up against him. "Silly Chi-chan! _Yusuke is just as shy as you_!"

He decided to ignore that comment. Taking her by the arm he led her back to his house and let them in. As he was telling her to take off her shoes his step-brother appeared, leaning out of the next room to gawk.

"You've brought that girl home again!"

"Her name is Hana, Shuichi," Kurama responded as the girl pulled off the trainers and held them up for inspection.

"Pretty," she said with a smile. _"They were the only ones that seemed natural. Shizuru wanted me to wear these horrible things with big spikes in the back that make you fall over, and they pinch in the front and bend your foot most painfully. She made me put on many of them and walk around in circles. Then Yusuke and Kuwabara put me in the scary box and I screamed."_

"What!" Kurama blinked several times while his brother poked him.

"What'd she say? Huh? What'd she say!"

"I'm afraid I did not understand all of it myself," he said while gently shooing the boy away. "I am going to be giving Hana Japanese lessons upstairs if you should need us."

"Upstairs? Why don't you sit in the living room like normal people?" The younger boy smirked and wiggled his pinkie finger.

"Because she would find you too distracting." He walked towards the staircase and the girl hopped after him, grinning brightly at the boy. Shuichi watched her go and pouted.

"What box, Hana?" Kurama asked when they were safely in his room.

_"I cannot remember the name, but it is one of fear and dread! It has huge metal doors that move on their own and bright lights that flash. Terrible sounds come from inside it like the screeching of departed souls and it is magic! It moved people without moving and its doors always open on another place!"_ She was waving her arms around as she paced the room and he watched her with some concern, and a little amusement.

"Was it an elevator?"

"Yes! _Yes that is the word that haunts my nightmares_!"

"_Was it really that scary?_"

_"They dragged me in and would not let me go until it had opened its doors of death again."_

"I'll have to talk to Yusuke about that," he muttered. "He should have explained it to you first." He set his bag down on his desk and pulled out the contents. Not too much homework for the night, not to him at least. He felt a tug on his pants' leg and looked down to see the demoness sitting crosslegged on the floor, her back leaning against the desk as she held up a book.

"Read me. Please Chi-chan." He smiled and left his books on the desk as he sat next to her.

"Read to me," he corrected. "The History of Japan, are you sure?"

She nodded and flipped the book open, pointing to a specific picture. He was surprised to see a woodcut of Perry's black ships. "Read to me please," she repeated adding pleading, doe eyes. He couldn't turn down the doe eyes.

* * *

and yes I mean "doe" and not "dog" or "puppy dog" 


	7. Chapter 7: Creepy

7 Creepy is as Creepy Does

(A/N): Stupid pagebreak button won't work for me today, ack. The unpacking is insane, but I managed to write this inbetween ripping apart boxes and finding random spots to stick all my stuff. Less than a week till school, I'm so excited! Woot College!

_But knowledge to their eyes her ample page,  
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;  
Chill penury repress'd their noble rage,  
And froze the genial current of the soul._

"Ah Hana-chan, it's nice to see you again," Shiori said as the girl walked into the kitchen behind Kurama.

"Hello," the demoness chirped back.

"Hana asked me if I could give her Japanese lessons Mom, and I thought that it would be a good idea."

"Oh how wonderful Shuichi! You're such a kind boy." His mother smiled fondly at him while fiddling with the rice cooker.

"I also invited Yusuke over for dinner, that way he can walk Hana home afterwards. I hope it's not too much trouble."

"Oh no, it's lovely that you're having friends over dear."

"Is there anything I can do to help you prepare dinner?'

"No, I'm fine. Why don't you two run along and do something fun for a study break? I mean like play a game," she said quickly. Kurama rubbed his forehead and Hana jabbed him in the back.

"Hana would you like to see our garden out back?"

"Oh the garden is a lovely idea Shuichi. Go show her the nice plants that you worked so hard on!"

"Show, show me!" Hana grinned as she tugged at his sleeve.

"Please be so kind as to—" He began to correct her but she rolled her eyes and pulled on his sleeve. "You're the one who said you'd like to speak with some fluency," he chided as he led her outside. He walked her around the yard, pointing out all the plant species and naming them for her. He realized that she didn't know how he fought as he was showing her the roses and briefly contemplated telling her. But he did not yet trust Hana, and saw no reason to go out of his way to inform her of potentially dangerous information.

_"You smell of this,"_ she said as she squatted by a small shrub. _"Of the earth and things that grow. Do you make things grow?"_

"I can, sometimes," he said with a smile. If Hana had been an opponent, if she had been a fighter, she would have been dangerous. He was slightly amused by this, the fact that her mind was in some ways being wasted. She would have been a master at analyzing her opponents and a wonderful strategist. She was obviously clever and quick. It would be a few more days until he discovered that she could still be dangerous even if she avoided fighting.

(page break button not working)

Yusuke showed up right on time for dinner and was surprisingly polite to the adults. He also managed to avoid mentioning his frequent ditching of school and street fighting ways in front of Shiori. But as soon as the adults had left the room he looked at Shuichi and said "Scram kid, time for the big kids to talk."

"Yusuke, I'd appreciate it if you were a bit more delicate in addressing my step-brother," Kurama sighed as the younger boy stomped out of the room.

"Aw come on man, you can't pamper him or you'll have a brat on your hands. Now tomorrow's Saturday, my holy day of rest—"

"Yusuke, there's school on Saturday."

"Yeah, but I haven't gone on a Saturday in too many years to count. You know in other countries they have Saturday and Sunday off every week? Now you do go to school, coughteacher'spetcough, but whatdaya say you come over afterwards and hang out for a while? Then Sunday's our day at the arcade, right Hana?"

"Yusuke teach me kill alien!" the girl said brightly.

"Yusuke, you do know she can't read Japanese yet, right?"

"Well I thought that's why you were tutoring her!"

"There's only so much she can learn in two days!"

"Well she's smart, I'm sure you can have her reading game commands by Sunday, you'll just need an extra long lesson tomorrow or something. Hell, it'll give you something interesting to do in your English class at least." Yusuke smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Yusuke." The redhead looked at his friend, seeming suddenly very tired. His perfect posture sagged slightly and he let out a long breath.

"Chi-chan!" Kurama jumped as the girl threw her arms around his middle and squeezed. But it was the jolt of youki accompanying the hug that made his hair stand on end and his muscles contract. It was just a jolt though, hardly any energy was actually transferred, but it was done in such a manner as to put him suddenly on high alert. He could feel the adrenaline now pumping through his veins as she let go and turned a mischievous smile on Yusuke.

"Hana, what was that?" he couldn't help asking as he tried to smooth down his hair and force his overactive sense to calm.

_"You looked tired, but you must remain alert! Constant vigilance when predators are about! You can never let yourself wear down like that, so I woke you up again."_

"Constant vigilance?" he muttered, feeling his fingers itching for his rose whip at the slightest sound. "Are you always this strung-up?"

"Strung-up?" she said slowly, repeating the words with no comprehension. _"Whenever someone is on lookout they must be alert to the slightest unexpected movement, they must always be aware of the positions of all predators within sight and smell, and they must know where the herd is and how they are spread out. They must also know several good escape routes. You are on lookout now!"_ she wagged a finger at him. "I watch at school."

He rubbed his temples and thought about how nice a vacation would be. "Come on, you come over tomorrow and hang out and you can give Hana her little lesson at my place. That way I won't have to come pick her up, and you won't have to worry about me traumatizing the kid." Yusuke slapped him on the back, nearly making him yelp. With his heightened senses that had been a shock to his system.

"Yusuke, alright, that sounds like a good idea. I'll tell my mother later."

"Cool. Alright Hana, you ready to go home?"

"Yes, your mom home now?"

"Who knows, kid?"

Kurama led them to the door and watched as they walked down the street, Hana tugging at Yusuke's sleeve and skipping along while the boy stuffed his hands into his pockets and shook his head. The demon smiled slightly and went up to his room to finish his homework.

The next day Hana showed up to school alone. She told Kurama that Yusuke had walked her half way then she'd told him he could go to school instead of walking in the complete opposite direction of his destination to get her to Meiou. But she suspected that he had gone back to bed instead of class. She had yet to meet his mom.

"What have you got there?" the boy asked when he noticed that she was walking with her hands behind her back. She gave him a sheepish smile and pulled her hand forward, revealing a spiral notebook.

"Yusuke give me, no use."

Kurama smiled as they entered his classroom and he led the way to their seats. "That was nice of him to think of it, though it does worry me when he starts giving away his school supplies. Do you two get along well?"

"Yes," she replied with an extra wide smile. "Very much like."

"You do understand that he has a girlfriend?" Kurama said quickly as he tried to interpret her expression.

She puffed out her cheeks and waved her hand back and forth. "Girlfriend silly, what it mean? _I don't care about your human customs. He seems to be the most suitable male I have encountered so far._"

"It's no wonder antelopes are not noted for their intelligence," Kurama muttered as the class began to settle down. "_You're only going to cause trouble if you pursue him_."

She snorted and gave him a scandalized glare. "_I? Pursue a male? Are you mad?_" She let out a tinkling laugh and shook her head. "Poor Chi-chan, so silly!" The teacher entered the room and silence fell before the class greeted him.

(still not working --"")

For lunch they once more retreated to the roof, narrowly escaping the hordes of fangirls stalking the halls. Kurama feared the Hana was developing a completely negative view of human females based on the actions of the girls at his school. Hana insisted that they sit in the middle of the roof so that there were plenty of escape routes and so she could see any approaching 'predators.' Kurama had given up trying to reassure her that he was the most dangerous predator in the area and just let her be paranoid.

"Ah, I've found you at last Minamino." Hana was watching the approaching male carefully. She had shifted into a squatting position that allowed her to get to her feet in an instant.

"It's alright Hana," Kurama sighed and patted her arm before he looked up at the boy. "Hello Kaito," he said to the boy with thick glasses and a mass of wavy black hair.

"Are you importing demons now?" the other boy asked as he eyed Hana. She pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side. "I doubt she is actually your cousin."

"You're right, she isn't. But she isn't dangerous either. Was there something you wanted?" He meant to be polite, but the other boy seemed to take this as something of a dismissal.

"In a bad mood Minamino? You may be the top student still but you don't actually own the school."

"Excuse me Kaito, I didn't mean to—mumf." His eyes shifted to Hana, who had clamped a hand over his mouth. She was staring at Kaito and her expression betrayed some confusion in her dark eyes.

She pointed at Kaito and said "Creepy."

Kaito's bag slipped from his hand and he grasped for words while Kurama flopped backwards, covering his own mouth now. "Hana, I thought I told you not to repeat any of the words Yusuke taught you!" he reprimanded her and she gave him an indignant glare before bursting into a spate of her demonic tongue.

"_From what Yusuke said when he was trying to teach me the word I took it to mean something that differs from the norm of human existence. I know it can be insulting, but he is not the same as the other humans!_" She gestured rapidly at the now glaring boy. "_He smells different, not like Yusuke, more like Shizuru, but not the same either!_"

"Kaito, you must forgive her, her grasp of Japanese, and common decency, is not very great," Kurama said from his prone position. "What she was trying to say is that your aura is different from other students'. Yusuke has been teaching her to constantly insult people. Hana, 'creepy' always means 'different' in a bad way; it is always an insult, not just sometimes."

"Ohh," she drawled. "But he say creepy is 'odd kid in the corner with thick glasses.'" She looked at Kaito again as if confirming that this description fit him.

"Hana!" Kurama pushed himself up on an elbow to glare at her. "_You're doing it on purpose, I know you are. You know damn well what you're saying._" She smiled innocently and went back to eating her lunch. "I swear I should have listened to Hiei," Kurama muttered as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"And what was his sage advice?" Kaito asked, his tone proof that he was still annoyed.

"He said to throw her back through the first portal we could find."

Kaito snorted but restrained his laughter. "So she is an accidental visitor to our world?"

"Yes, she happened to step in a portal, not knowing what it was, and ended up here. I'm trying to teach her about the human world but she's rather mischievous."

"But Chi-chan," she whined, tugging at his sleeve. "I very good! No change form in class, I wear clothes, no tell teacher shut up." She caught his stern look and rolled her black eyes. "_What do you expect? I'm a demon, as are you. Well, you **were,** Kurama._"

"So have you contacted Spirit World yet?" Kaito pushed his glasses up his nose as he sat down.

"No, and I wasn't really planning on it," Kurama answered. "I can only foresee negative consequences from their interference."

"Not afraid she might decide she doesn't like you much and go for the kill?"

"Hana doesn't fight," the fox demon replied evenly. "She prefers running away."

"It's smarter," Hana snapped, jabbing him in the side. "_You only have to outrun one person to survive. Of course it's better if everyone can outrun the predator._"

"What did she say?"

"She said if she runs it's more likely her attacker will settle for someone slower."

Kaito snorted. "So what exactly are you planning for the long term? Going to take her to college with you next year or send her back to Makai?"

"Sorry I be mean," Hana said, cutting into their conversation. She held out a hand to Kaito and he stared at it for a second before taking it. Hana shook hands very solemnly, the serious expression looking out of place on her normally smiling face.

'Why am I worried?' Kurama wondered as he watched the pair. Hana let go of Kaito's hand and went back to her bento while the young man watched her with some confusion. He shrugged and resigned himself to never understanding the oddities of the fair sex and began his lunch. Kurama was just happy the girl had quieted down for now, but food always seemed to have that effect on her.


	8. Chapter 8: Upskirt Shots

8 Upskirt Shots

* * *

Hey guys, new update, this time from school! I'm sooooooooo happy to be here, it's pretty crazy. It's also really nice to see large droved of guys my age wandering around, even if most of them wouldn't look twice at me, or I wouldn't look twice at them. I feel really silly about my reaction, but I hardly saw any guys over the summer and I was pretty much suffering withdraw the whole time.

* * *

_Some village Hampden, with that dauntless breast,  
The little tyrant of his fields withstood,  
Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest;  
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood._

* * *

After school Kurama and Hana made their way to Yusuke's apartment. They sat in the living room while Kurama began teaching Hana to read kana. Meiou's top student also made his more delinquent friend sit down and do his homework. As he was slogging through science and cursing Kurama under his breath Yusuke decided next time he invited the high-schooler to give a lesson at his house he would make sure he wouldn't also be subjected to learning. He wasn't sad to see his friend go when dinner time rolled around at last, and as he shut the door on the red-head he breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Wow, that's more homework than I've done all year! My teachers are gonna flip, especially when they see it's in my handwriting." Yusuke burst out laughing as he walked back to the living room. "Actually it might have been worth it just to see the looks on their faces when I turn this stuff in."

"Yusuke bad student," Hana said as she turned on the TV.

"You got that right kid! I'm only still going to school because of Keiko."

"Yusuke, what is love?" He made a face and looked at the demoness. She was sitting at the table still, but her attention appeared to be fixed on the glowing screen of the idiot box as she flipped through the channels.

"How the Hell should I know?" he muttered and sat down next to her. "Ask Kuwabara if you want someone to blabber on about love, or a girl. Girls always like to talk about crap like that. 'Oh aren't you two so _cute_ together,'" he said in a falsetto as he flapped his hands. "It looks like _loove_! Hehehe.' Then they giggle like idiots and make weird faces or talk girl."

"Talk girl?" Hana repeated, turning to give him a confused frown.

"Yeah, girls have their own special language they speak to each other that guys can never understand. Botan used to do it all the time."

"Who Botan?"

"Ah nevermind." He waved the question away as the front door opened and a woman entered. She slipped out of her shoes and walked into the room without really acknowledging the two people already there.

"Damn I'm hungover," she moaned as she dropped to the floor. "'Ey, who's that?" She pointed at Hana, who was staring back just as rudely.

"Hey Ma, this is Hana. Hana meet my mom Atsuko."

"She smell funny," Hana said while crinkling her nose. "Hello Yusuke's mom."

"Cute kid. So you're two-timing Keiko again?"

"Mom, I've never two-timed Keiko! Botan was just Botan!"

"Who Botan?" Hana asked again, this time adding a poke to emphasize the question.

"Where'd you find this one? You didn't die again did you?"

"AGH! Women!" Yusuke yelled, jumping to his feet and leaving the room.

* * *

Kurama managed to finish his homework before lunch on Sunday, in part because he had nothing better to do, and in part because he was worried about Yusuke's outing with Hana. Yusuke had a tendency to run into trouble at an alarming rate dragging those around him in as well. Kuwabara was able to handle himself, Hana wasn't. 

After lunch he told his mother he was going out for a while and that he might be gone for the rest of the afternoon. She was used to his long 'walks,' though this time she was hopeful that he was visiting that pleasant little foreigner, even if she was a foreigner, she was still a she. But there was the chance the girl was living alone… 'No that's absurd, the poor thing couldn't speak over ten words of Japanese when Shuichi found her,' she reassured herself. 'She has to be living with an exchange family.' Calmed, Shiori went back to her weekend routine.

Kurama found himself wandering in the general direction of Yusuke's favorite arcade. Well not exactly wandering, more like heading straight for it by the most direct path at a brisk pace. He wasn't worried, of course he wasn't, he trusted Yusuke, but still, what if Yusuke had left her with Kuwabara? 'Wait, why do I care again?' He had to think about that one. He hardly knew the girl, and what he did know unnerved him more often than anything else. She was a trickster, a mischievous creature that seemed to delight in agitating him, but at the same time she trusted him absolutely. She trusted enough to put herself in the power of two strange men just because he had said they were his friends. And now he was just going to make sure that they were living up to that trust.

He slipped into the arcade and looked around. It was a popular place, but on the wrong side of town for a lot of Meiou, so thankfully there was no one he recognized from his school. Off to the side there was a large crowd, he went towards it with a sinking feeling. Near the front he spotted the back of a familiar head, but the crowd didn't seem violent, so he was slightly confused.

"Wow."

"So amazing."

"Never seen anything like it."

"National level definitely."

"Hasn't been beaten in over an hour."

The comments of people around him as he made his way forward were even more confusing. He knew they must be referring to some game, but Yusuke wasn't playing, he was standing on the edge of the crowd, right next to the machine and there was no way Hana could have picked up a videogame that fast, unless this was another shocking little talent of hers. He got closer and could make out what the game was: DDR. Dance Dance Revolution. Yusuke had Hana playing DDR in front of a crowd of admiring humans, and apparently she was good.

There were two machines next to each other, Hana was on the one on the right while there was a boy on the machine on the left and they were both stomping around like crazy. Yusuke was standing behind her with both fists filled with ribbons of tickets as he cheered the girl on.

"Yusuke," Kurama said as he reached his friend.

"Shhhh," Yusuke said quickly, then he glanced back. "Hey Kurama you showed up! Not too loud okay or you'll throw off her concentration. I had to kick Kuwabara out cuz he kept shouting stuff and she actually tripped and fell. Luckily the guy next to her broke her fall."

"Yusuke."

"Don't worry she's not hurt. But she's been up there forever. It took her about a half hour to get the hang of it, but since she hit difficult she's been unstoppable! She's got great stamina and balance."

"Yusuke, you're exploiting her."

"No I'm not. This was the only game she liked in the whole place, and she really likes it."

"But you're collecting the tickets."

"I put the money in, anyway she said she didn't want any of the prizes."

"And what are you going to do with them?"

Yusuke gave him a sly smile. "Sell them, and what's wrong with that Kurama?"

"Well, it is illegal."(1)

"You're one to talk, demon thief."

The song ended and the boy next to Hana groaned and slumped off the pad while Hana bounced up on her toes and spun around. "Chi-chan! You here! Watch me?"

"Yes Hana, I was watching," he said with a smile. "Are you done now?"

"Yusuke, one more?" she turned pleading eyes on Yusuke who was counting all tickets coming out of the machine.

"Sure thing Hana," he said, reaching around in his pockets. "You just keep doing your thing. Hey, Kurama, what did you mean 'are you done?' You think you're taking her off?" Yusuke dropped a few coins into the machine as another challenger stepped up to go against Hana.

"Don't you have a date with Keiko this afternoon Yusuke? It would hardly do for you to have Hana tagging along."

"Heey, how'd you know about that?"

"You told me yesterday, somehow it was on your list of reasons why you shouldn't have to do algebra."

"Oh right. But it's not for a while yet."

"I think you've displayed Hana quite enough for today."

"Somebody's gotten all protective," Yusuke cocked an eyebrow as he smiled at his friend.

"Yusuke, you have some very strange ideas. Also you seem to forget that Hana will attract undesirable attention in much the same way we do, but unlike us she will not be able to overcome it. It is best not to stay in one public place too long."

"You take her to school every day!"

"That's different."

"You're so full of crap!" Yusuke laughed, slapping Kurama on the back.

The song ended and Hana stepped down, still victorious. "What do Chi-chan?" she asked as Yusuke hurried to collect the last of the tickets.

"I was thinking we could go for a walk around town. Would you like to see the stores?"

"Walk? Walk where?"

"Just walk around to look at things."

"Oh, okay. Yusuke come?"

"I don't think so. He has to meet Keiko later, isn't that right Yusuke?"

"Yeah, sorry kid," Yusuke ruffled Hana's hair and looked off towards the prize counter. "But Kurama'll drop you at the house later, right?"

"Yes, I'll walk her home."

"Cool, see you guys later then!" He waved and walked away while Kurama took Hana's arm and led her outside.

* * *

The streets were crowded with Sunday shoppers: students off school for the day and adults free from their jobs for the weekend. The pair was relatively inconspicuous for demons, though they did attract some attention from passersby. Mostly it was girls whispering to each other and glancing back to get just one more look at the red-head. Hana kept looking around cautiously and stopping in her tracks, reminding Kurama of her nervousness when he was jerked back by the arm. However, many of her frequent stops were not out of fear, but because something in a shop window caught her eye. She stared at jewelry and lamps, clothes and candy with the same wonderment. When she started bobbing up and down slightly and tugging on his arm Kurama thought she had just seen another interesting shop until he caught the agitation in her voice. 

"Chi-chan, Chi-chan! _A predator_!" He followed her eyes to a young man who was walking towards them down the street. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about him, except that he was carrying a large bag and holding it slightly away from his body as he walked.

"Hana, you're overreacting. You need to calm down," he said as he looked at the completely average looking young man. He was probably just some college student out shopping on his day off.

"No! _There is something evil in the bag._ Look when he look at girl!" she ordered, tugging on his sleeve and bouncing more. He sighed and looked again. This time he saw it.

A couple of girls were walking aways ahead of Kurama and Hana. They were brunettes and had on puffy jackets, short skirts and floppy boots. The man carefully avoided looking at them, even though most men his age probably would have looked twice. He edged over slightly and brushed against one as they passed, his bag sweeping under her skirt. He stayed expressionless through the encounter, but there was the ghost of a smile on his face as they parted. Hana quickly dropped behind Kurama and appeared on his right side, putting the demon between her and the man. "_Don't make eye contact_," Kurama directed as they passed the man.

There was an "ouf!" and a crash as the young man face-planted into the pavement. Kurama stopped and turned, wearing an expression of polite concern. "Oh, you must be careful of the uneven sidewalk," he said as a vine slowly disengaged itself from the man's foot and disappeared back into the gap in the sidewalk. A few people had stopped to laugh while others were glancing back and giggling. The man pushed himself to a sitting position and rubbed his face as the red-head bent to pick up the bag that had gone flying in the fall.

"Hey don't touch that!" the man exclaimed, reaching one hand out quickly while the other held his bleeding nose. But Kurama was out of arm's reach and had already lifted the dark laptop bag.

"Hmm, what's this?" he asked curiously as he stuck a finger through a sizable hole in the bag's top. "It looks like something has ripped it." He whipped it open in a second and lifted out a running camcorder. More people stopped to stare. Kurama turned it off and looked down at the man still sitting on the ground, his expression cold and disdainful.

"You, you've got no right to, to be in my…my stuff!" the man yelled and grabbed the bag, but Kurama held the video recorder out of reach.

"And I believe you have no right to walk down the street taking pictures up girls' skirts."

"What do you care? Your girl moved out of the way before I got near you!"

"But others were not so fortunate. I believe I will confiscate this. If you wish for its return you may pick it up at the local police station. I'm sure they will be very pleased to meet the owner." The man paled visibly and jumped to his feet. He took off running without further ado and was gone in seconds. Kurama shook his head as he removed the tape and crushed it in his hand. There was nothing more he could do. He was not about to race down the crowded streets to tackle some man who couldn't really be charged with a crime. There were no victims present to press charges.

"What's the point of taking pictures like that? It's stupid," Hana remarked as she took hold of his arm once more and they continued thier stroll.

"I can't really explain the psychology of a warped mind Hana, but it was very wrong what he was doing."

"Yes_, I__ would have made you stomp on his face if he had done that to me, then gore him_," she laughed and tugged him off to look at yet another store. 'Gore him?' Kurama couldn't help thinking as he looked at the pacific antelope staring at a stuffed animals display.

* * *

(1) I dunno, selling arcade prizes probably isn't illegal but at the back of the first book it says selling pachinko prizes is technically illegal, and something Yusuke does, so I ran with it. 


	9. Chapter 9: The Fashionista

9 The Fashionista

_Th'applause of list'ning senates to command,  
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,  
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,  
And read their history in a nation's eyes,_

* * *

I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of stanzas, it's not like I can really switch poems as this one's in the title. It's "Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard" by Thomas Gray, since I haven't actually stated that before. But counting what's left, I can stretch it to 23 or so, we'll see if I get that far. A few more reviews would be nice; I would like to know what you all think of the story so far. I'm also going to be asking for some input on a question in a few more chapters (I know that's sort of looked down on here), but I'd really like to know what you all think when I get around to asking.

* * *

The school week began again and things began to settle into a pattern. Hana would meet Kurama at school and go to all his classes. At lunch they would hide out on the roof, or in an empty corner of the school-yard. After school they would go back to his house and he would spend a few hours teaching her to speak and write. She now knew how to get around on her own a bit and could get back to Yusuke's without a problem. She usually left Kurama's before dinner, she told him it was because she liked Yusuke's food better but he sensed that Shiori somehow made her uncomfortable, or that she wanted to avoid making the human uncomfortable by being present so often. 

On Thursday they were walking back from school when Hana stopped in front of a shop. Kurama was used to his behavior at this point and calmly stopped beside her to wait for her to ask what the point was or just get bored. After a few minutes he glanced at his companion to see what had her so fascinated. It was a boutique clothing store, but the demoness appeared to be fascinated by the pictures inside of models in extraordinarily impractical clothing and fantastic designs that made you wonder what on earth the designer was thinking.

"Would you like to go in?" he asked with a smile. This was the first time she had shown any real interest in types of clothes and it would probably be good to encourage her. Of course if she developed a taste for haute couture he would have no way of getting her the clothes she wanted.

"I want know how they stand." She tugged his sleeve and pointed at a pair of massive stilettos one model was balanced atop.

"I believe it takes hours of practice," he replied as he held open the door for her.

Hana walked in cautiously, she was still wary of entering new buildings and walked softly. Clothes were more on display than in a usual store setting, and it screamed money to Kurama. Hana was oblivious and walked around examining things critically and looking at the posters.

"Can I help you?" Though the question was phrased in a friendly manner the saleswoman was obviously not pleased that they were there. The fox demon could clearly see her distrust and haughty disdain as her eyes flicked between them and her lips turned down.

"We're just looking, thank you."

"Well there's a mall down the street," she was in the middle of talking when the door opened again and two men entered. The first one was short and paunchy. He was dressed in all black, but unlike Hiei he was wearing an expensive suit. He was gesturing and talking to the man behind him who was a few inches taller and had a wiry build. The taller man also looked a few years younger and was in the process of flipping through a clipboard and talking on his cell phone as he pretended to listen to the shorter man.

"I can't believe she's not here already! What can be keeping her? Is this how low my status has fallen that I am ignored and mistreated? Doesn't anybody know how to keep an appointment these days!" He sighed dramatically and paused long enough to take in the presence of the two teens and the sales woman. "Ah, there she is!" His eyes shot right past Kurama and the woman to Hana who was standing with her back to all of them.

Before Kurama could even react the man had pushed past him and thrown his arms around Hana's neck. "Thank the gods you're here!" he cried as he let go of her and took her hand in both of his. "But we must get started **immediately**, darling! Oh your hair is even more gorgeous than I expected, it will work perfectly for this shoot. Hair and makeup won't take too long, but we must do the fitting this instant." He looked over her figure with a critical eye. "Your measurements are definitely **not** what the agency told me. Oh well, they're not **too** far off. Look Kenji, I found her!"

"The agency says she's sick," the taller man, who hadn't been paying attention, said as he flipped his phone closed. "They're sending another model but we have to wait until they round one up."

"But I have her right here," the short man said as he patted Hana's hand and stared at the taller man.

"Um, excuse me, there must be some mistake," Kurama said, moving forward to separate Hana from this strange personage.

"There most certainly is not," the smaller man replied, moving to block the boy with his ample stomach. "She's perfect for this shoot, and these agencies can be so bad at finding what I'm looking for. I'm shocked, Shocked! Now into the back," he said, shooing Hana towards another part of the store.

_"I have no idea what's going on,"_ she responded evenly as she looked from the strange man to Kurama.

"Foreign, eh? Korean, no wait, don't tell me, Chinese? You must be her translator," he said with a glance at Kurama. "Now you must tell her-"

"Sir, I'm afraid there's been a mistake. Hana is not a model. We are not from any agency. We just came in to look."

The small man stood still for a moment, staring at the boy thoughtfully. He turned slowly and looked over the girl once more. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure sir."

"Well would she like to do the shoot? Who knows when the other girl will get here. In fact, I think that would be perfect."

"But she's not a model!" Kurama protested as the small man began herding Hana into the back of the store. "And she doesn't have the paperwork to work!"

* * *

The little man heard nothing. He ushered the girl into the back, Kurama and the man named Kenji following on his heels. The backroom was not the storeroom Kurama had expected; instead it was a large studio, far deeper than the store at the front. There were long tables set around with bolts of cloth, or messy fabric strewn here and there. A few stands held completed works, or almost finished ones and overall there was an air of artistic disarrangement. 

"Welcome to my workshop, I am Antonio," the short man said with a dramatic spin around to face them all.

"An-tone-ee-yo?" Hana repeated slowly.

"No you're not," Kenji replied with a sigh as he began making another phone call.

"Yes I know, but it's much more fun, isn't it? I'm really known as Tanaka Keita. My main shop is in Harajuku, but this one has enough space for my design studio." He was talking and walking backwards at the same time while pulling Hana along with him. "Well you just wait there my boy and we'll be out again in no time."

For a short, pudgy human he could move when he wanted to. Kurama jumped forward to stop him, still not liking this idea at all when the other man held out an arm to stop him. "Unless you want to see a grown man cry leave him alone," he said with a sigh. "Once he sees she's not professional and can't hold a pose he'll give up on her. He's always seeing 'just the perfect face' or 'perfect figure.' He drags the poor things in and inflates their hopes then throws them over like rotten fish when they can't do exactly what he wants."

"But she's not a model and she can't speak Japanese very well, she'll be confused and lost."

"There's a reason he told you to stay out here," the taller man rolled his eyes as he set down his clipboard on one of the tables and leaned his elbow on the surface. "You're the kind of boy who blushes just thinking about a girl in her underwear. Uptight. Pity," he said as he glanced over the boy critically. "You look like you could be somebody's poster boy."

Kurama tried not to cringe. He looked around the room and watched as Keita pulled a screen across the middle of the room, blocking Hana from view. He really didn't like this, not at all, yet at the same time here he was, doing nothing. He turned his head slightly and listened, at least he could monitor what they were saying from this distance. The minute Hana called out or complained he would be there. If she called out. 'Of course she would,' he chided himself. 'She's not stupid. Well, her first reaction to danger is most likely to be flight, but she wouldn't just stay in a dangerous situation.'

"Mm, you're not as thin as I expected, but I'm not telling you to drop weight dear, looks like you're all muscle. Look at those little arms of yours, very clean lines. Just the right height, I don't need to hem at all, take in the back a bit and we'll be good to go."

_"I don't understand the point of this." _

"Oh your little accent's so cute, where are you from again?"

"Austria," Hana replied.

'Austria!' Kurma thought with sudden horror. He'd told his mother she spoke German he hadn't said anything about Austria. How had she picked up that country, was it completely random or did she know it was one place where German was spoken? His thoughts were racing and he barely caught what Keita said next.

"Oh lovely people, I know a little German, but I can never make out what the Austrians are saying, their accents are so different. Can you say something else for me?"

"Gruss Gott. Wie ghet's?"

"Shit." Kenji, occupied with his gadgets again didn't hear the whispered curse. Kurama was wondering once more exactly what kind of creature he was dealing with.

"Ah so cute! You're adorable, oh my I've forgotten your name, what is it?"

"Hana. _Kurama are you mad again_?"

The question made him jump. She hadn't raised her voice at all or altered her tone. Somehow she knew he was listening. Of course it was a reasonable assumption given that they were both demons with preternaturally acute hearing, but it unnerved him even more.

"_I'm not mad_," he said in an undertone as he made sure he was turned away from the human on the phone. He hoped he was loud enough for her to hear but wasn't willing to risk speaking louder. "_But where-"_

He paused as he heard her make a soft noise of protest. "Too tight?" The man's voice carried across the open space. "Ok, I'll adjust it."

_"From Keiko, I told her you said I was German and she said I should know a few greetings incase I met anyone who speaks it. She took a book out of the library for me. I told you yesterday Keiko was trying to teach me some words." _

"_I thought you meant she was just teaching you more Japanese_."

"Now take it off and we'll whisk you through hair and makeup," Keita ordered, interrupting their conversation. They emerged a moment later, Hana in the clothes she had arrived in, and the designer holding something in his arms like a delicate baby. "Kenji, finish off the changes for me like a good assistant while I take Hana-san here to our favorite torture chamber."

"Where are you going now?" Kurama demanded as he fell in step with the designer. The smaller man handed off his work to his assistant and led Hana towards the front of the shop.

"To get her fixed up, she hardly fits the ensemble at all like this." He hurried her out of the store and down the street with Kurama right behind them. A few shops down was a large beauty parlor and Keita went in here.

* * *

"Tanaka-sensei, have you found your model at last?" The woman sitting behind the desk directly in front of them asked. 

"At last! It's a miracle I found somebody at all, this one's rather green but I think she'll do."

"She does look nervous," the secretary replied, examining Hana through her thin, rectangular glasses. "Midori's in the back waiting for you, she had to put back her next appointment."

"She's a darling, I wouldn't trust anyone else," Keita said as he led Hana past the secretary and towards the back of the large salon. A girl with bright green hair was standing in the very back, in front of a hairdresser's chair as she straightened a mess of cosmetics and hair goodies that lay spread over her counter. "Midori-chan! I **absolutely** need you right now!"

"Yo Keita, whatcha want today?"

"Everything you have!" he laughed as he pushed Hana into the chair and clapped his hands together. "I want to take about an inch off the back, give her those glorious slanting bangs you're so good at and put up the rest into something huge and glorious. We're going for a sleek but soft look. Something to even out the skin tone, though hers is surprisingly good, and let's bring out those marvelous black eyes."

"You're going to cut her hair?" Kurama demanded, stepping forward.

"The ends are strangling, not fashionable at all, and it's too severe all long, she needs the bangs."

"You can't just cut her hair like that; you didn't even ask her if she would allow it."

"Chi-chan, Chi-chan," Hana said suddenly, reaching out a hand to tug at his sleeve. "What happen?"

"_He wants to cut your hair_."

She let out a squeal and covered her head with both hands, hunching forward. "Agh, now you've frightened her!" Keita exclaimed, dropping to his knees and waving his hands frantically. "Only a little Hana-san, only a little!" He held out his index finger and thumb to indicate a small amount and she looked up carefully. "Well maybe not even that much," he said, lessening the distance between his fingers. "And some pretty bangs, look your friend has bangs, Midori has them too." The green haired girl flipped the hair in question and gave the girl a wry smile.

"Okay, only a little cut," Hana breathed as she sat up and uncovered her head. Keita sighed and glared at Kurama.

Midori set to work at once while Keita watched carefully, making little suggestions and comments to make sure everything turned out exactly how he wanted. The woman was quick and efficient at her work and soon had the demoness' hair done and had moved onto her make-up. Kurama didn't know half of the items they were talking about and was thoroughly lost by the obscure and roundabout way they described the effect they were going for. It was as if these people were speaking a language he had never heard and would never be able to understand. He had seen his mother do her makeup on more than one occasion, but that had never called for an airbrush or gluing on individual eyelash extensions. Hana sat through it all patiently, with the rigid pose of a deer that has frozen for a moment to take in the situation around it.

"Okay, done!" Midori called, letting out a pleased sigh and stepping back from her work.

"Excellent, let's go!" Keita whisked Hana from the chair and back onto the street in a millisecond. Kurama rushed after them, checking his watch to make sure he still had plenty of time before his mother got home from work.

* * *

Back in the workroom Kenji had finished the alterations and Keita immediately hustled Hana into the back to change. Kurama waited with growing impatience, he just wanted to get this over with. He was certain that the moment they sat her down and tried to take pictures of her they would see she was not fit in any way to be a model. He hadn't even explained cameras to her, except vaguely how TV shows were filmed, and he was sure she would ask questions the entire time. She also wouldn't be able to pose, she was a demon, one raised with the mindless fear of a prey species and they had no conception of complex ideas like acting or emoting. 

"Ah perfection!" The exclamation brought the demon's attention around. Keita drew back the screen and Hana turned to look at them, inclining her head slightly as she regarded the two men.

"It did come out better than expected. Do you want me to alter the other outfits as well?"

"Get started immediately," Keita clasped his hands as he looked over Hana and sighed. "Well boy, what do you think now?"

"What have you done to her?" Kurama asked.

"What do you mean 'what have I done to her?' phrasing it like there's something wrong!"

"She isn't herself."

"She's not supposed to be!" the designer shot back with passion. "The model is our canvas, she becomes more than herself and she should not out shine the clothes, but at the same time they cannot drown her. Everything must be balanced to create something new and beautiful. Together they make perfection. The photographer will be here in five minutes, since he is already twenty minutes late. Outside!"

Hana turned her head slowly to look at him and pursed her lips. It was very much her gesture but seemed completely different now. He was surprised clothes could make someone so different, but it wasn't just that, she was holding herself differently. The long sleek dress was too elegant for Hana, so Hana had become more elegant to fit it, holding herself straighter and looking around without a sign of hesitation. She followed the designer slowly, taking dainty steps and wobbling ever so slightly. Kurama realized that she had never worn heels before in her life, and was now forced to balance on them as she followed the skipping Keita.

They walked outside to find the photographer had actually arrived and was setting up his equipment on the sidewalk. Apparently they were intending to use the buildings as a backdrop for the shoot. "You're actually less than a half hour late!" Keita exclaimed and the photographer gave him a grumpy smile.

"With all the heckling you've given me for the past week I had to get here early."

"Early!" The designer laughed and moved Hana around so the picture would take in the architecture of the neighboring building. "Now you stay here, look at the camera," he pointed to the dark object the photographer was fiddling with, "and do what he tells you, okay?"

"I try," she replied, shifting uneasily on her shoes.

"Ok, chin up a little more, head to the side, eyes over here," the photographer said in quick sucession and it took the girl a moment to respond.

"She's foreign," Keita whispered to the photographer as Hana shifted her position.

"Hmph," was the photographer's response. "She doesn't look sophisticated with those wide eyes. She needs to look less vapid and cutesy."

"But the innocence is part of the charm. It softens the sharp lines."

"A bit more sexy, a little less jailbait, please."

"I not know those words," Hana said, her confused expression making her look even less 'sophisticated'.

* * *

I'm a project runway fan, so sue me. But frankly, I hope you won't sue me, and that you liked this chapter...  



	10. Chapter 10: Spirit World Can be Helpful

10

_Their lot forbad: nor circumscribed alone  
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined;  
Forbad to wade through slaughter to a throne,  
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,_

* * *

I've seen a lot of versions of Kurama, but here he's come out rather prejudiced. In the series he expresses disdain for other demons and I think it's a bit of the left-over arrogance from his former life. The expression of this attitude comes out more subtlety when he's dealing with Hana, but it colors almost all their interactions.

Hehehe I was bad with this one... Sorry it's taken so long to update, I was working on the other story instead when I hit a little trouble with this one. I adore everyone who's reviewed on this. Since no one reviewed the last two chapter I'm assuming I responded to everyone already, if not I'm Really Sorry!

* * *

Keita gestured at Kurama to translate while the later stared back at him defiantly. "Chi-chan please," Hana said, turning her wide eyes on him.

"_They are saying you look childish_, cutesy, _and that isn't how they want you to look for the picture._ Sophisticated_ is more complex, worldly, with knowledge of what is going on_."

"_Meaning__I don't know anything because I am from an isolated area_," she responded in a biting tone, her eyes narrowing on the boy. He blinked at her as she held her head up higher and inclined it, her mouth compressed, one corner turning up into a deliberate expression, not quite a smirk or a smile, while she arched one eyebrow ever so slightly, giving her face a very knowing look. She looked almost crafty, and definitely worldly, as she slowly turned this expression on the camera.

"Perfect," the photographer exclaimed and began furiously clicking. "Excellent darling, turn a bit more towards me."

Hana turned as instructed while the designer clapped his hands behind the photographer's back and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Hana-san you're a natural! You'll have to do the whole collection!"

"Okay, now a little less jaded, more ethereal." Both men looked at Kurama.

"You expect me to translate ethereal?" They nodded. "Ethereal_, like a bird or a something else light, airy, delicate, like a spider's web_."

"_That is a very strange way for a solid creature to be_."

"_Yes, but somehow they think you can accomplish it._"

"It's like something pretty," Keita said gesturing at Hana. "Very pretty, but you can't touch." He reached out, miming something just out of reach.

"That silly," Hana responded, shifting her posture, tilting her head up and turning it to the side while looking at them from the corner of one eye. The photographer got up and adjusted her position slightly, moved her arms around and had her shift her weight, but they liked the profile view. They went through several more poses, making Kurama translate abstract terms describing the strange sort of look they wanted. The teen found it boring and tedious, made even worse by the fact that Hana kept snapping at him over what she had earlier taken as an insult.

Finally they were done and Kurama dragged Hana back into the shop to change into her own clothes. Keita was occupied as he stood talking to the photographer besides the cash register. When the two adolescents emerged from the back room he jumped in surprise and reached for Hana's hand, but Kurama blocked him. "Don't tell me you're leaving!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, we are. I don't know why I allowed this to continue for as long as it did," Kurama remarked.

"But Hana-san liked it! Didn't you Hana-san?" He turned pleading eyes on the girl who frowned slightly. "Well then I guess it's time I paid you, you did a lovely job Hana. Austrian, I still can't believe it!" He pulled out a checkbook and glanced up at her. "How about 500 euros, I think that's about right." Hana just smiled pleasantly while Kurama's jaw unhinged slightly. "How should I make it out?" Keita asked, whirling his pen around.

"She doesn't have a—"

"I'll make it out to you then, if that's okay with you Hana-san?" Keita pursed his lips and looked at the girl.

"Yes, yes, give to Chi-chan," she flapped her hands towards the red-head and Keita smiled.

"So my boy, how do I make it out?"

"Shuichi Minamino," Kurama replied automatically. His brain was working quickly, trying to figure out how he would explain this to his mother, how he would hide it, what they would do with the money, and every other possibility the situation presented.

"Now I absolutely **demand** a phone number or address where I can contact this darling girl. I still want her to do the rest of the collection."

"I will, I will have to take her to get papers so that she can work."

"Oh of course!" Keita exclaimed. "But you give me your number and I will give you mine so that you can call me the moment everything's cleared."

Kurama wrote down his phone number for the designer, praying the man would lose it. He took the proffered slip of paper along with the check and hurried the demoness from the shop.

"I can honestly say that was one of the most surreal experiences of my life," the fox demon said as he led the girl down the street.

"Surreal is what?" she said but received no answer as he was looking down at the check.

"I will have to tell Spirit World then."

"Chi-chan." She picked at his sleeve. "_Chi-chan_!"

"Hm?"

"I not understand."

"Hana, would you like to do that more often, to wear different clothes and have people take pictures of you?"

"Less sleepy than go school," she said while pursing her lips into a pout.

"Because it seems like that man, Tanaka Keita would be willing to hire you at least once more. When you do work like that you get money," he waved the check and saw her eyes flick to it. "_It's like when you gave your horns up_. And then you can buy food, clothes, anything."

"I give Yusuke for food," she said immediately. "And you mom."

"Don't worry about that," Kurama said quickly. "But I have to talk to Spirit World about you to make it so you can work. _If you really wanted to go home_," he said slowly, "_there's a chance they could help you get there_."

"_I would not be able to find them again_," she replied, absently tugging at her damaged ear.

* * *

Kurama sent Hana back to Yusuke's and set about contacting Spirit World. It was not as easy as it had once been. Now that he was done with his 'probation' he had to go through roundabout sources to get his message that he wanted to talk to Koenma. After dinner he excused himself to his room, snuck out his window and went to the place a portal would be appearing if Koenma accepted his request for a meeting.

It was five minutes late, but luckily Kurama had always been patient. He had an even longer wait outside the prince's office, but at last he was invited in and saw the small ruler in much the same position as he always was.

"Well Kurama, I must admit you were one of the last people I'd peg to be calling me up for a favor. So what is it that's serious enough for you to need my help?"

Kurama explained about Hana, explained how she was harmless, how she had shown no desire to go back where she had come from and how she now had an opportunity to work in the human world, to make a new life.

"We almost never get antelope demons in the human world!" Koenma exclaimed. "They're just not aggressive enough to get through the portals, and normally not smart enough to try. Well it makes sense if this one was running and happened to trip through one. No, it doesn't seem like there will be any problem. I'll put the paperwork in immediately. What did you said her name was?"

"Minamino Hana," Kurama replied. "I've been telling people that she's my cousin."

"Ohoho that's a good one, a fox and a doe. I can get her that name but probably not status as your cousin. Things get tricky when you try to make up identities connected to living people. And how about we make her a year older, so she's just graduated, give her a diploma from a foreign school, Austrian, right? But make her a citizen; I think we can swing that."

Kurama was dreading what he would say next, but he had to ask, he had to know the price. "What do you want in return?"

Koenma's eyebrows rose and he let out another laugh. "I'm not that evil! I swear you all think I'm some kind of sick dictator messing with people's lives like they were pawns in my chess game! Just keep her out of trouble, don't let her kill anybody and I'll consider it a fair trade."

Shocked to be getting off so easy, Kurama nodded and left before the prince could change his mind.

* * *

The weekend came again there has as yet been no word from Spirit World. Kurama was giving Hana an extra long lesson in Japanese, but they were both growing more distracted as lunch time approached.

"Why don't we go for a walk after lunch?" Kurama suggested as he snapped his history book closed and gave her a pleasant smile. "It will be a nice break."

"Yeah, walk," Hana said. She dropped her pen and shook out her hands while grimacing. "Writing hurt much."

"You're doing very well," he remarked, picking up the paper she had been practicing on and looking over her characters. "You're handwriting is good too."

"Thanks. After walk you read me story?"

She looked up at him hopefully and he couldn't help smiling back. Being read to was one of the few indulgences Hana insisted on, but as she seemed to find his textbooks enthralling he wasn't one to complain when she asking him to read his homework aloud.

They went downstairs for lunch and settled around the table with the rest of his family. Kurama was starting to suspect his step-brother of having some sort of crush on the demoness. Whenever they were in the same room together the boy would spend most of the timing staring at her. Hana only barely acknowledged him as being there, she was polite in her own special way, but took no other notice of little Shuichi.

"After eat we take break," Hana said enthusiastically to Shiori. "Go walk."

"Oh that sounds lovely dear," his mother replied with a kind smile. "It's such a nice day out. You're learning very quickly too."

"Thank you very much!"

Shiori asked several more questions about what they were studying, how Hana was progressing and other pleasantries before they finished their meal. Hana grabbed their plates and danced off to the kitchen while Shiori smiled after her.

"She's such an energetic and happy little girl, isn't she?"

"Yes, she has boundless energy," Kurama replied before excusing himself to follow the girl.

They left the house and wandered away from the main area of the city. Kurama had promised to show Hana the largest trees he knew of and they were headed for the woods. As they were wandering under the trees with Hana staring around in awe there was a sudden loud squeal and a blue blur came barreling towards them.

"Kuraamaa!" it cried before colliding with the surprised boy. "It's been so long, too long!" a high voice cried.

"Botan! I'm surprised to see you, but pleased as well," Kurama said, patting her awkwardly on the back.

"When Koenma said he needed someone to take paperwork to you I just jumped on the chance!" she said, letting go of his grip around his neck. "I miss all of you boys so much, even Hiei!"

"Well we all miss your bubbly spirit," he replied with a smile.

His eyes flicked over Botan's head to where Hana was standing a few feet away, watching them. Her face looked troubled and her dark eyes were particularly unreadable at the moment. Botan looked around to see what he was looking at. She spotted Hana and clasped her hands together as she let out an "oh!" The demoness recoiled as the ferrywoman came bounding towards her with a bright smile on her face.

"And you must be Hana! How nice it is to meet you. You're in excellent hands here, well as long as you don't spend too much time alone with Yusuke that is! Aren't you just so cute, you look awful scared for a demon, it's hard to believe! You know, I think you must remind me of Yukina. Ah, I haven't seen her in a while either."

"_Why does it make so much noise_?" Hana asked, her eyes darting to Kurama.

"That's just how Botan is, Hana."

"_Make her go away_."

"Hana!"

"What did she say?" Botan asked, turning back to Kurama.

Hana moved forward suddenly. Catching Botan's hand she shook it up and down quickly while saying: "Botan? Hello Botan, I'm Hana."

Kurama was startled by this sudden transition. Just seconds before, she had been frowning and telling him to make Botan go away; now she was smiling as Botan fluffed her bangs and rattled on. "Oh but I really need to give you the paperwork!" Botan exclaimed turning back to Kurama and he saw Hana's eyes narrowing slightly on the ferrywoman's back. Botan pulled out her notebook and began flipping through pages.

"Here we go!" She pulled out a stack and handed them to Kurama. "Now in there should be a birth certificate, immunization record, primary school permanent records and high school diploma. Oh, and a passport!"

"It's all here," Kurama said as he flipped through the little stack one more time. "Spirit World really did a good job on this."

"Well we do try! I think I'm going to run and see Yusuke quickly. It should give him quite the heart attack! Bye!" She waved as she took off back towards the city. An oar appeared out of thin air and she jumped on it and zoomed off.

"She go see Yusuke?" Hana asked and Kurama noted the annoyance in her voice with some surprise.

"You don't like Botan?"

"I didn't say that." She pranced forward and reached for the papers in his hand. "Give me!"

"Hana, I'm not sure that's the best idea." Kurama held them out of reach, which was difficult as the girl was his height, and fended her off with one hand. "We don't want to lose these."

"Hana good!" the antelope pouted. "Just want to look." He sighed and let her take the passport. "Oh, that's me!" Hana traced her fingers across the picture in the little book with reverence. "This one not move."

"It's not a mirror, it's a photograph."

"Oh, like in Chi-chan's house."

"Come on, let's head back."

"But, but, _trees_," Hana whined, gesturing with the passport towards the deeper areas of the woods.

"Ok, we'll look at the trees a little longer, but then we really must head back."


	11. Chapter 11: Ditched

11 Ditched

* * *

Ahhh! End of the semester insanity! I don't know how it went so fast!! My roommate's currently playing a game called "Dafur is Dying" is really twisted, she keeps getting killed by the militia when she's trying to gather food and water... its so wrong, because it's true. Oh, what I was wondering is do you guys want this to be a romance story? I've had some indication for that, anyone really opposed? PM me, review, whatever, just let me know what you all think!

* * *

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,  
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,  
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride  
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.

* * *

They returned to Kurama's house and finished their lesson for the day by mid-afternoon. He sent her back to Yusuke's and pulled out the card Keita had given him. 'To call or not to call?' that was the question he faced as he flipped it over repeatedly and paced before the phone in the hallway. Of course if he didn't call, the over-enthusiastic designer would probably call him, and if his mother answered, as she probably would…. He picked up the phone and dialed the number. 

"Yes. Tanaka-san, this is Minamino—yes. Yes."

There was a long pause in which Kurama held the phone some distance from his ear and rolled his eyes at the loud chatter coming through the speaker.

"Yes, when would be a good—yes. I'm afraid I have school. Yes. Yes. Really?" He quickly regained his composure from the slight response and nodded absently. "That will be fine. Thank you." He hung up quickly and breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to deal with the man in person until the weekend.

* * *

Wednesday after school Kurama turned Hana over to Keiko outside the school gate. Hana had told him that Keiko would take her shopping for more clothes and a few other things when he had asked her what she wanted to do with her money. She also declared that she was going to pay Yusuke back for her food. Keiko was probably the person he trusted most to take Hana shopping, she had good sense and restraint, and they seemed able to communicate fairly well in spite of Hana's still minimal vocabulary. 

"This is going to be so much fun!" the brunette exclaimed as she took Hana's arm and began leading her away. "I love big shopping trips."

"Bye Chi-chan! See tomorrow!" Hana called back, as she shuffled along with Keiko.

Kurama waved after the girls and then turned to go home, expecting nothing more that afternoon except several hours of homework and studying.

Keiko took Hana through stores until the money was running low and their arms were overflowing with bags. They hadn't just bought clothes though. Hana had insisted on buying things for the Urameshi apartment, including an air filter to help alleviate the smell of stale cigarettes and old alcohol. They began the long walk back to Yusuke's apartment while chatting happily. The girls always managed to communicate rather well, and frequently joked about the boys and thier insanity.They passed a small side street as a breeze puffed up from behind them and whipped their skirts around. Hana froze immediately, her eyes dilating and her nostrils flaring.

"Hana?" Keiko asked as she noticed the demoness fall a step behind. "What's wrong?"

"_Run_," Hana whispered. Keiko could see that every muscle in the girl's body had gone rigid. She felt a wave of panic at the unnatural stillness. "Run," Hana repeated. "To Yusuke, tell come to school."

"Hana, what—"

She was cut off as the antelope sprung forward, slamming into her and knocking all the bags from her hands. She felt a jolt of energy through her body as the adrenaline began pumping through her veins. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she couldn't hear any further commands, if Hana even attempted them. All she knew was that she had to run. This rush, this panicked euphoria all happened in the milliseconds it took the demoness to spin Keiko around and finish her push. Then the human was off running as the other girl's youki flared up high enough to catch Kurama's attention several miles away. Hana began running too, but she turned around and ran right past the lunging demon that had been sneaking up on the pair.

He had been waiting for an opportune moment when the wind shifted and now decided to go after the better meal. He had no idea it would be the far harder one to catch. As Hana pelted past he pivoted, but not quickly enough. She dropped her bags as she ran and her pursuer got into gear. She had protected Keiko, she knew she could outrun the predator but that the human had no chance, and she had acted. It was this kind of reaction that had gotten her into trouble in the first place. She had spooked the younglings then gone tearing off in a beautiful long curve away from them and the rest of the herd. But she had not been able to run her way out of that one. She could only hope that things would go a bit more according to plan this time around.

* * *

"YUSUKE! URAMESHI YUSUKE!" 

Yusuke jumped from where he was lounging in front of the couch when he heard the screams coming down the hall. He recognized his girlfriend's voice immediately and was through the door and in the hall before she could summon the energy to scream again. She ran straight into his chest and he grabbed her arms to keep her from falling.

"Keiko! What the Hell's the matter?!" he yelled, seeing that she was not hurt.

"We were attacked… Hana… Hana said to go to school…"

"What the Hell?"

"Yusuke! Go to school! You have to save Hana!"

"Calm down! What school am I supposed to go to, mine or Kurama's?"

Keiko gasped. "Oh no, she didn't say! She just said to tell you to meet her at the school, I think she was going to try to lead it there."

"God damn," he growled, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate for once. Off in the distance he could sense Hana's energy, it seemed like it was moving more towards Meiou. "Get Kuwabara, tell him to meet me at Meiou, unless he senses that she's going somewhere else. No wait," he yelled, pulling her back as she made a move to dash off again. "Go inside the house and _Call_ him, on the phone."

"Right!"

Shaking his head Yusuke ran for the stairs. Kurama had warned him that Hana might be attacked, had said several times that Hana would not be able to fight, would not defend herself, would just run away, but still, she was a demon and he had trouble thinking of demons as helpless. Even Yukina would move to defend herself if attacked. He ran through the streets towards Meiou feeling the antelope's aura getting stronger as he approached. He had never felt Hana's aura so strong before and knew she had to be charged up, but for what he had no idea, unless she had been hiding powers from them all this time.

"Damn I wish I'd told Keiko to call Kurama too. He's sure gonna be pissed when he finds out what happened." Yusuke began charging up his rei gun as he entered the school yard, then he turned around to wait.

"Yusuke, what's going on?"

Yusuke nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard Kurama's voice behind him. He spun around, his eye twitching slightly as he spotted the redhead standing in the shadows beneath the school building.

"Kurama? I didn't expect you to be here."

"I sensed unusual activity in the area and came to investigate. I assume you're here for the same."

"Well yeah, I mean Keiko came running up to my place screaming her head off and said she and Hana were attacked. Then she told me I was supposed to meet Hana at a school or something. It seemed like she was heading this way."

"Ah." Kurama stepped forward and Yusuke thought he saw his friend's face relax slightly. "Well we had better wait for her here then."

They didn't have to wait much longer. They could feel Hana's aura getting closer, but weaker at the same time, and she was moving considerably slower when she suddenly came into view at a limping jog. She stumbled across the threshold into the yard and swayed dangerously across the yard. Yusuke was about to spring forward but Kurama's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Her attacker came into view as well, running full out behind her, an almost nondescript demon. He looked human, just a little wider than normal and Yusuke could make out spikes along his arms and one his head. He threw his hand forward and the ground under Hana exploded, but the antelope was no longer there, she was already clear and had spotted the boys.

Her posture changed immediately. Her back straightened, her head snapped up and her legs stopped shaking. She stopped panting and her aura dropped down to its normal levels. Her attacker paused to register these changes but as soon as they had happened she was gone.

"_Kill him_." Kurama and Yusuke jumped to find her standing behind them. "**_Kill him_**." Kurama blinked, taking in her insistent tone as Yusuke looked at him for a translation.

"What'd she say?"

"She wants us to dispose of her attacker," Kurama replied.

The confused demon spotted them at this moment and let out a frustrated shout. "You won't get away, I'll take all of you! I am the master of the human world!"

"Oh shut up you dirt bag," Yusuke snapped, sending a rei gun blast his way. A pillar of dirt erupted from the ground in the shot's path and slowed it long enough for the demon to dodge.

"See?! All your pathetic tricks are useless against my mighty power!"

Kurama and Yusuke glanced at each other and were about to respond with their own pithy remarks when a yellow light burst through the demon's stomach. It withdrew just as quickly and the earth demon keeled forward.

"Jeeze guys, don't you know you're supposed to get 'em while they're monologuing?" Kuwabara said, giving his ki sword a flick.

"Yay Kuwabara!" Hana cheered, prancing forward. She danced right over the demon's prone body and affectionately bumped into Kuwabara.

"Hey, we were just about to drop that weakling ourselves!" Yusuke exclaimed.

Kuwabara merely grinned and patted Hana on the head as Yusuke jumped up and down. Kurama sighed and walked forward, carefully stepping around the still-breathing demon.

_"Hana, are you alright?"_

_"Yes,"_ she responded without even blinking at his use of her language, something he made a habit of avoiding unless necessary.

_"Were you faking that limp?"_

_"Yes,"_ she turned to look at him and he saw that her wide black eyes were unusually intense. _"To keep him following me I had to be slow, let him get close. I sent Keiko for Yusuke since he was the closest and came here because it is the easiest for me to find. If there's one thing we do better than you, it's escape."_

Kurama looked over her carefully as she stood there leaning against Kuwabara smiling that impish little smile she reserved for when she was especially pleased with herself.

_"You led that demon here, to us. Why didn't you just run away once Keiko was safe? You cold have outran it."_

She gave him a look like she was beginning to question how intelligent he was, but he merely stared back at her, stony-faced. "_Because I wanted him dead,_" she said at length. _"Dead, dead, dead. No more attacking, no more stalking. I don't want to be hunted, I want hunters to die and suffer just like us. If what's chasing you is killed you are safer, the clan is safer. If you were unable to fight, would you be content with getting away _this_ time?" _

_"Why didn't you fight then? Don't you have some kind of attack? You did charge up when I first encountered you, and your aura was distinct over a mile away today."_

"_That was a display, to scare you because you cornered me. It doesn't do anything, just gathers all my youki in my hands, so I look like a predator in this form."_

"Hey, are you two gonna let us in on this nifty little conversation you're having, or should Kuwabar and me just go wait by the gates?" Yusuke asked loudly, his thumb jerking towards the entrance of the schoolyard.

"I'm sorry Yusuke, I just wanted to be sure that Hana understood my question and answered coherently."

"Well what did you ask?"

"I asked her why instead of just escaping her pursuer she chose to lead him into an ambush and almost certain death."

"Ah, I didn't even think about her outrunning it!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Yeah, but then it would have probably attacked some little kid!"

"We go get bags," Hana said suddenly, tugging at Kuwabara's sleeve. "Keiko, I, drop everywhere. Need."

"Oh, of course," the human responded with a grin. "I'm here to help Hana-chan! You guys can handle this thing, right?" Without waiting for a response from his friends Kuwabara followed the girl's insistent tugging and let her lead him away.

"They just ditched us!" Yusuke yelled as he pulled out his communicator. "And I'm supposed to be retired! Arrggh."

* * *

**Luna Forest:** I'm so glad this is new to you! It's so hard to be original when you're writing fanfiction. It always seems likes everybody's already thought of everything! 

**Rita:** Sorry you were waiting so long! As for jealousy, it's definitely there in some form. It's not really in their nature to settle down into monogamous relationships, but a lot of animals do express some form of jealousy, or competition for the attention of the opposite sex. Like bucks fighting over a doe. Well that's what I'm running with at least, lol.


	12. Chapter 12: Far From the Madding Crowd

12

_Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,  
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;  
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life  
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. _

* * *

I'm a baaad wabbit. Oh and the decision is in, no non-cannon romance here folks, which is what I mostly intended originally.

* * *

**Sage**: yeah, this is AU after the Sensui arc, so Yusuke's no longer the spirit detective, that's also why Kurama was so hesitant to contact Spirit World, since he also no longer works for them. I haven't seen the three kings arc, which is why I go off cannon at this point. (I also don't like all of what I know about it, lol) 

**Spirit Evolution: **glad you like it, and silly comments are Always appreciated!

**s**: 's'? lol. Yeah it can be difficult tho, cuz I get mushy and want to turn everything into a hook-up of some kind, but I won't! And yes, always attack during the monologue, that's what the last, ultimate super-secret gadget is designed for in any good adventure!

**Armed'n'Strangerous**: no romance, ok! But I cannot promise a lack of flirting.

**cher-cher91:** and then it takes me two months to update….

**Luna Forest: **more at last, I guess you've had plenty of time to get over your writer's block by now… yeah Hana's surprising sometimes

* * *

That Sunday Kurama told his mother he was going out for the day and she smiled affectionately while telling him to be careful. 

"I will Mom, don't worry about me," he said as he headed for the door.

"And tell Hana-chan I say hi."

He paused mid-step before slowly glancing around at the woman bustling through living room. "But—"

"Oh Shuichi, I know that you're going to see her. She's such a nice girl, if a bit strange."

"Mom, I'm not—" he began to protest.

"Go on now dear, you don't want to be late." She smiled at him and made a shooing motion.

"Yes. Have a good day."

He left the house and shook his head as he began heading down the street. It was unfortunate his mother thought his relationship with Hana was like that. He hoped the demoness was not under the same impression. But then he reminded himself she was an antelope, and probably not a creature that would develop such feelings or focus her attention on only one male. Hadn't she been telling him that she was trying to get Yusuke's attention just the other day? And then there was Kuwabara. She had also acted strangely towards Kaito, but that might have had a different motivation. It was something he would address when he had to, for instance when Keiko was demanding why he had left such a creature in Yusuke's house.

Speaking of, he arrived there shortly and went up to Yusuke's flat. Atsuko answered the door and was not yet completely intoxicated. "Hey, it's the pretty one," she said by way of greeting and Kurama smiled faintly at her.

"Hello. I was wondering if—"

"Yeah, they're here." She stepped back from the door to let him in and turned towards the living room to shout "Yusuke, you're buddy's here. Get your butt out here!"

"Alright Ma, I'm coming!" the teenager shouted back.

"Hana win! Hana win!"

"Only because I was distracted!" Yusuke emerged as Atsuko moved back into the apartment. "Hey Kurama, come help me defeat the little monster. I taught her how to play super smash brothers and she's been kicking my ass for the last half hour."

Kurama slipped out of his shoes and followed Yusuke into the living room where Hana was holding her controller in one hand and using the other hand to point to the buttons on the other one that Atsuko should push. The woman was mashing the buttons as per the demon's orders and frowning at the screen.

"I still don't know how you guys sit here for hours and play this damn thing." She looked up from the screen to make a face at her son.

"Red, red, red!" Hana called, going so far as to reach over and press the button for Atsuko.

"Is it some kind of demon thing that you play video games well?" Yusuke punched Kurama's arm playfully and continued watching Hana.

"I believe it is more a matter of free time, and the ability to pick up skills quickly, which Hana has demonstrated quite effectively with her quick grasp of our language. But I'm afraid, Yusuke that I am not here to help you defeat Hana at video games."

Both the teen and demoness looked up at him at this. "What do Chi-chan?"

"Hana, do you remember Tanaka-san?"

"Keita, with the clothes?"

"Er, yes. Tanaka Keita. He's asked that you come over again today. Do you want to go?"

"Now?" she asked glancing between Atsuko and the paused game on the TV.

"Well Yes Hana. You can play video games later tonight, but Tanaka-san will only be there during the day today."

"Ok, we go." She popped up and handed her controller to Yusuke before addressing his mother. "Atsuko no drink, tonight I teach, play good."

The woman smiled up at the serious expression on the girl's face and laughed. "Okay kid, don't worry, I'll wait till you get back."

"Good. I see later!" She waved and bounced off to the door to slip into her shoes.

"I'm not sure how long this is going to take, but I'll walk Hana back afterwards."

"Yeah, well have fun being hit on by fashion designers," Yusuke laughed at his friend. "And don't go angry youko on them!"

"I'm not going to—" Kurama began to reply but Hana grabbed him by the arm and tugged him towards the door.

"You say go, we go!"

"Yes, yes, we're going."

* * *

When they arrived at Keita's shop the proprietor was waiting impatiently and pounced on Hana immediately. 

"I've had all the dresses altered to your measurements, but we still need to do a final fitting to make sure they fit correctly. Then Kenji will run you over to Midori. You, uh—" Tanaka pointed at Kurama and snapped a few times, trying to think of his name. "Minamino? You'll fill out the forms, over here."

He led the way into the back, one hand firmly clutching Hana's arm. He pointed to a stack of paperwork and left it to Kurama as he continued to pull the girl away. Kurama watched Hana go, she was an antelope, used to following and moving in groups, so she seemed completely unruffled to be dragged around by the plump little man. Now that he knew she felt comfortable and that Keita had no interest in her expect to see her modeling his clothes he felt he could relax slightly.

"I thought she was Austrian," the assisstant Kenji said and Kurama looked up to where the man was hovering over his shoulder.

"She was raised there, but she is my cousin and has Japanese citizenship."

"Well, that makes the paperwork easier at least," the man shrugged elegantly as he stepped away. Kurama watched while he went to fiddle with a pile of fabric at the other end of the table before he went back to work. There was quiet for a few minutes with only the soft sound of rustling fabric and Keita's soft comments to himself as he adjusted whatever Hana was wearing.

"Have you ever thought of modeling?" Kurama looked around at the other man who was now sitting on the end of the table, a dress spread over his lap and a needle in hand as he beaded the hem. "It would be good money on the side."

"I work part time for my step-father, I don't need the money."

"So uptight," he sighed and rolled his eyes. Kurama tried to ignore him and fill out a section on Hana's parents. He decided it would be best is she was an orphan and marked 'deceased' on the form. "Why then do you allow your 'cousin' to model?"

"She enjoys it, apparently." Kurama pushed the papers across the table in front of him and reshuffled them slightly. "Why do you ask these questions?"

"Haven't you ever heard of small talk?" Kenji said with a snap of his wrist as he pulled the needle through the shimmering fabric. "Come on boy, have a little personality."

Kurama controlled his annoyance and refused to acknowledge the annoying man. Why were all these people so rude and personal? Kenji's cell phone rang and he answered it immediately. 'Thankfully that will keep him busy for a while,' Kurama thought as he flipped to the next page.

* * *

"OK, we're ready!" 

Kurama sat up abruptly and looked around. He had been dozing in his chair, waiting for the actual photo shoot to start. Keita swept into the room, practically dancing in circles as he skipped across the floor. Hana was following after him. Her hair was up in some huge, fan shape and the dress was a mass dark bands running in all directions but somehow she was not swallowed up by it, or the makeup covering half her face. It was those bottomless eyes of hers, alert and watching.

"Chi-chan," she called out, tripping towards him in her obscenely high heels. They made her at least three inches taller than him. "_You're going to have to explain what they're saying to me again,_" she said as she grabbed his arm and began tugging. "_I think that for one of our lessons we should just talk about the words they use here so I will be able to understand by myself. You don't like sitting here all this time doing nothing._"

"Hana, it's no problem."

"But you not want do always. Maybe," and here she gave him a rather sly sideways look, "I no go school anymore."

"Hana! You need to be exposed to proper Japanese, not just Yusuke and Kuwabara's version. And—"

"You think important, I still go," she said quickly. "But no like."

"We'll see," he said and helped her follow Keita to a back door in the studio. "Stairs?"

"Yes! We're going up to the roof today, the sky is perfect and I want these done out over the roofs."

"Why did you have her put on those ridiculous shoes first?"

"She's fine. Come on Hana-chan!"

Hana made a wavering noise and took Keita's extended hand. With him pulling from in front and Kurama walking behind her to catch her if she fell Hana made it up the stairs and out onto the roof. It was another long photo shoot, but even worse than the previous one since once they finished with one outfit Keita hustled her down the stairs to change into another one and had her hair rearranged. Kurama had brought a book and sat reading it in an out of the way corner until he was called on to translate something.

"Ok Hana, look aggressive, look fierce," the photographer said. Hana pushed her now gold-highlighted bangs to the side and glanced at the fox demon.

"_Predator_," he replied without even looking up.

"Oh excellent Hana!" Keita exclaimed as she struck a new pose.

And so it went. Finally in the late afternoon she had been trotted out in all the outfits Keita wanted her to model and now they were done. Hana pulled off her fake eyelashes and let out a long breath as she was able to regain her normal posture.

"I'm hungry," she muttered to no one in particular as they began to pack away the equipment.

"Come on Hana, let's get you out of that dress." Keita took her by the arm and began to lead her away. Kurama pushed himself to his feet and followed after them, staying quiet and unnoticed.

"I'm going to recommend you to everyone I know," Keita said as they headed back down the stairs and out into his studio. "You're quite a good little model darling, I absolutely adore you. Anyone in their right mind would. But of course I will want you all the time for my own work, you fit it so well."

"Thank you very much, Keita-san," Hana said as she dropped him a bow. She was getting good at bowing, but still lacked a native fluency.

"You're too adorable Hana-chan." He left her to get changed and went to fetch his check book. "So how should I make this one out?" He pursed his lips and looked at Kurama.

"To Minamino Hana," Kurama directed. "We opened her bank account the other day."

"And her name is the character for flower?"

"Correct. You said you would be recommending her to other designers. What number will you be giving them?"

"Yours of course," Keita laughed as he signed the check with a flourish. "Perhaps you should get her a cell phone and register her with an agency, my boy."

"Hm, I will think about it."

Hana popped up at his side and pulled the check from Kurama's hand just as he took it from Keita. "Oh, me see, my name. Keita write very pretty."

The plump man smiled appreciatively as Kurama worked the slip of paper from the girl's fingers and tucked it into a pocket. "Don't play with checks Hana," he admonished her. She pouted and crossed her arms as they said goodbye to Keita and began the walk back to Yusukes, with a stop at the bank to deposit the money.

* * *

"Shuichi, you've been gone a long time," Shiori observed as her son reentered the house and dropped into a chair in the living room. 

He decided he would have to tell his mother some of the truth, he might as well partially explain what was going on. "Hana-chan is a model. At her invitation, I went with her to one of her photo shoots today. I had no idea it would be so long, or that modeling could be such stressful work."

"Oh," Shiori didn't even try to hide her surprise at the news. She settled her book on her lap and gave her son her full attention.

"So did you get to see her naked?" little Shuichi asked, only to be met with horrified looks on all sides.

"No. It was not that kind of photo shoot Shuichi, Hana is a fashion model."

"Well no wonder she's so thin then!" Shiori exclaimed. "And that's why the poor thing hardly eats. I did wonder about that."

At Yusuke's apartment, Hana was describing her day to Yusuke and Atsuko with grand hand motions and exaggerated poses. "And then I had to lay down on the cold cement and twist my arm out of socket!" she exclaimed as she pulled her arm out to an uncomfortable position. "And I couldn't eat or go to the toilet the whole time."

"Ah, you know you don't actually have to work Hana-chan," Atusko said sagely as she sipped a beer.

"Mom! Don't tell her crap like that, she's not going to get mixed up with Yakuza like you."

"My friends are what got your delinquent ass back into school, buddy."

"Yeah, but there's no need for Hana to get into that stuff."

"Alright, I was just saying! So are you going to school tomorrow Yusuke?"

Before he could answer Hana bumped into him and yelled "Yes!" They both stared at her. "He go tell Keiko saying from me."

"And when were you going to tell me this?" Yusuke asked as he shoved the girl away.

"Now! You tell Keiko I want to buy present for Kurama."

"Buy him a present?"

"Yes, for take me around always."

"When do I get a present Hana-chan?" Yusuke said, suddenly schmoozing up to her.

"You brat!" Yusuke cringed as his mother slapped him upside his head. "She's taking us out to dinner tomorrow. Did you forget what I had to wash your good pants for?"

"Okay, okay," he cried, hemmed in on both sides. "I'll go to school tomorrow and tell her, and I'll put on the crummy clothes so we can go to this fancy restaurant."

"Good. Tell her I want to go after school this week." Seeing Yusuke's disgruntled expression she scooted up to him and fixed her wide, watery eyes on his. Seeing the doe eyes Yusuke was quick enough to sense the danger coming, but could not escape it. "Will you read me a story?"

"Again? I read to you last night!" Her bottom lip started trembling and his resolve wavered in face of the onslaught.

"Read anything, it okay. Please, Yusuke."

He made a rumbling noise while trying to look away from her, but she tugged on his sleeve and he just knew those eyes were fixed on him. "Fine. I guess I can read you some of my manga."

"Yay! I like almost as good as history."

花开花了


End file.
